India, Nov. 5 -- Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Wednesday announced a three percentage-point increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners as a Diwali gift. The increase will take effect from November 1 and be reflected in salaries and pensions paid in December, benefiting nearly eight lakh employees and pensioners.

In a post on X, Mann said the latest revision would take DA to 53%, up from 28% when his government took office in 2022. He said the increase would provide employees an annual financial benefit of approximately Rs.3,988 crore. The announcement follows an eight percentage-point hike in September, taking the increase over the past two months to 11 percen...