Chennai,  The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday announced a hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) for government employees, teachers and pensioners.

Announcing the DA hike, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said that the state government would meet the fair demands of the government employees step by step.

Making a statement in the Assembly under Rule 110, the Chief Minister said that the hike in DA for government employees and pensioners will be effected from January 1, 2022, instead of April 1, 2022.

Stalin said that the hike is being implemented even as the state is facing acute financial crisis. This hike would lead to a further commitment of Rs 6,420 crore annually and would benefit 16 lakh government employees, teachers and pensioners, he said.

Chief Minister also said that the practice of putting a government employee on suspension on the day of his retirement would be avoided.

The president of Tamil Nadu Government Employees Association, M. Anbarasu, told IANS, "We are thankful to the Chief Minister for having raised the DA for state government employees. However, we were expecting the DA hike to be enforced from July 2021, at par with the Central government which had effected the hike from July. Generally in Tamil Nadu, the DA hike is enforced on par with the Central hike. There is no reason for pushing it to January 1, 2022."

The Chief Minister also announced an increase in the retirement age of cooks and assistant cooks working for the nutritious meal scheme of the state government from 58 years to 60 years. A total of 29,137 cooks and 24,576 assistant cooks would be benefited by this move.

The government will take steps to fill the vacancies of junior assistant posts in government schools through the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.

The government will also regularise the suspension period of government employees who had agitated against the previous AIADMK government and were placed under suspension.

Also, dependent children of government employees will henceforth be included under the health insurance scheme of their parents, irrespective of their age.

He also said that training will be given to the government employees in their respective districts to simplify and expedite the works of the Integrated Financial and Human Resources Management System under the Treasuries and Accounts Department.