Chennai,   Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday announced a 3 per cent hike in Dearness Allowances (DA), from 31 per cent to 34 per cent, for government employees and pensioners.

The announcement of the Chief Minister will lead to a burden of Rs 1947.6 crore to the exchequer and benefit 16 lakh people including serving and retired government employees.

While addressing the public after hoisting the national flag on Independence Day, Stalin announced that the pension of freedom fighters has been hiked from Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 from August 15. The pension of a freedom fighter's family has been increased to Rs 10,000 from Rs 6,000.

The monthly family pension to the heirs of Veerapandya Katta Bomman, Maruthu Pandiyars, Mutharamalinga Vijayaraghunatha Sethupathi, and V.O. Chidambaram has also been increased from Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000.

The Chief Minister also announced that an Independence Day museum with all modern technologies will be set up in Chennai.

Stalin said that the social reformist and Dravidian ideologue, E.V. Ramaswamy Periyar or Thanthai Periyar had called for naming the country Gandhi Desam after Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead by fanatics.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also said that internal unity was important and paramount to facing any external onslaught and that was a true tribute to the freedom fighters who had sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the country.