Shimla, Oct. 24 -- Government employees in Himachal Pradesh have received a double boost ahead of Diwali as the government has increased the dearness allowance (DA) for employees from 45% to 50%, saying their contribution was crucial to the development of the state

Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced 5% DA hike during a press conference in Shimla on Friday. The CM announced that additionally, regular Class-IV employees will receive an additional cash payment of Rs.10,000 in November as part of the arrears resulting from a pay scale revision. The finance department also issued a notification regarding this on Friday.

The increased DA will be paid along with the October salary, while the arrears for Class-IV employees will be ...