Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 14 (PTI) Despite facing a serious financial crisis, Kerala's CPI (M)-led Left government on Monday announced a bonus of Rs 4,000 for state sector employees in connection with the upcoming Onam season.

In a statement, state Finance Minister K N Balagopal said those government employees who are not entitled to the bonus would get Rs 2,750 as special festival allowance.

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The special assistance and benefits will reach more than 13 lakh employees and labourers working in the government sector on the occasion of Onam, he said.

Service pensioners and employees retired under the contributory pension scheme would get a special festival allowance of Rs 1,000.

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While all state sector employees would be entitled to a festival advance of Rs 20,000, part-time and contingent staff would get an advance of Rs 6,000 on their salaries, the minister added.

All categories of employees, including contract-scheme workers who received bonuses last year, will get the bonus this year at the same rate, the statement added.

The Left government announced the Onam bonus for state sector employees on a day the ruling CPI(M) accused the BJP-led centre of imposing sacntions on the southern state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had harshly criticised the BJP-led central government in the state Assembly recently for ignoring Kerala without providing financial aid.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)