Ahead of Diwali, the Cabinet has decided to hike dearness allowance by 5%, Union Minister Prakash Javdekar announced on Wednesday.
The dearness allowance will be raised to 17% from 12% 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.
