Ahead of Diwali, the Cabinet has decided to hike dearness allowance by 5%, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Wednesday.
The dearness allowance will be raised to 17 percent from 12 percent and is likely to benefit 50 lakh government employees and 62 lakh pensioners, the minister said.
The decision was approved at a cabinet meeting this morning. The move will cost the exchequer a total of Rs 16,000 crore.
