Gujarat govt hikes DA by 4% for employees, raises NPA contribution

The Gujarat government has announced a four per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for state employees and pensioners. The state government has also increased its contribution to the National Pension Scheme (NPS) for employees and has announced to calculate LTC cash conversion for 10 cumulated leaves on the basis of the revised pay scale of the 7th Pay Commission.

With the latest DA hike, the dearness allowance of state government employees will now increase to 46 per cent as compared with 42 per cent earlier, according to reports. DA is given to government employees, while DR is given to pensioners.

The DA has been hiked with effect from July 1, 2023, and employees will be given arrears for the past eight months, it said. Around 4.45 lakh state government employees and 4.63 lakh pensioners will benefit from the decision to hike DA, said the official release.

Also Read: 7th Pay Commission: Government employees likely to get 4% DA hike in March 2024

The difference in dearness allowance for the 8 months spanning from July 1, 2023, to February 2024, will be distributed in three instalments along with salaries, it said.

“The difference amount for the period between July 2023 and September 2023 will be paid with the March 2024 salary, while arrears for October to December 2023 will be disbursed with the April 2024 salary. Additionally, dearness allowance arrears for January and February 2024 will be included in the May 2024 salary for the employees,” it said.

The state government has also decided to increase its own contribution to the NPS from 10 per cent to 14 per cent, while state employees will have to pay 10 per cent. It has also decided to calculate LTC cash conversion for 10 cumulated leaves on the revised pay scale of the 7th Pay Commission, whereas previously it was based on the pay scale of the 6th Pay Commission, according to reports.