Amritsar: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann made a major announcement for government employees ahead of Diwali. The dearness allowance (DA) of employees has been increased by 3%, bringing the DA rate to 53%. The increased DA will be credited to the December salary.
Chief Minister Mann stated that the DA hike will benefit approximately 800,000 employees and pensioners. The increased DA will be added to their November salary, while the December pension will also include the increased DA.
The Chief Minister stated that when the government assumed power in 2022, employees were receiving 28% DA. This increase will benefit employees and pensioners by ₹363 crore.
It should be noted that in September 2026, the Punjab government had decided to increase the DA rate for employees and pensioners by 8%, increasing the DA rate from 42% to 50%.
Read what CM Mann said in 4 points
1. CM said – We increased DA by 11 percent: CM Bhagwant Mann said that in the last two months, the government has increased DA by 8 percent and now by 3 percent. This means a total increase of 11 percent.
2. No shortage is being made by the government: Mann said – approximately ₹1,088 crore will be transferred to employees’ accounts in a year. At the same time, based on the 11 percent DA increase, this amount will be approximately ₹3,988 crore annually. The government is sparing no effort to provide relief to employees and pensioners.
3. Chief Minister’s Pilgrimage Scheme has been a success: M said that the Chief Minister’s Pilgrimage Scheme has been a success. Around 2,000 people are undertaking the pilgrimage. Some are going to Salasar, some to Vrindavan, and some to pay obeisance at Darbar Sahib.
4. We never said the treasury is empty: M said that it has been almost five and a quarter years since the government came to power, but we never said the treasury is empty. Some leaders who were ministers in previous governments constantly claimed the treasury was empty. He sarcastically said that such ministers were called “pipa ministers.”