Chandigarh, Sept. 4 -- The Punjab government has decided to raise the dearness allowance (DA) from 42% to 60% for around 85,000 employees recruited after July 17, 2020, announced industries and commerce minister Aman Arora on Friday.

Arora, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab president, described it as a 'Janmashtami gift' for government employees.

The move comes in the backdrop of agitation by four lakh government employees and three lakh pensioners demanding immediate release of an 18% pending DA and arrears. Earlier, the state government had approached the Supreme Court to challenge a recent Punjab and Haryana high court directive asking the state to clear all pending DA and dearness relief arrears (roughly Rs.14,000 crore) with...