Ranchi, Mar 12 (PTI) The Jharkhand government on Tuesday hiked employees' dearness allowance (DA) to 50 per cent of basic pay from the existing 46 per cent, effective from January 1 this year, an official said.

The proposal regarding hike in DA to state government employees and dearness relief to pensioners was approved during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Champai Soren.

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“Dearness allowance and dearness relief for pensioners have been increased by 4 percentage points to 50 per cent,” Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel said.

The hike will benefit over 1.90 lakh employees and pensioners in the state, officials said.

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The move comes close on the heels of the central government deciding to hike the DA by 4 percentage points to 50 per cent, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

(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)