Chandigarh, Sept. 24 -- The Punjab finance department on Wednesday issued a communication to all department heads announcing an 8% increase in dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees. The hike takes effect on September 1, 2026, and will be disbursed along with October salaries. The announcement follows a meeting last week between chief minister Bhagwant Mann and employee union leaders. The state agreed to release the DA installment-costing an estimated Rs.231 crore per month-leading unions to temporarily call off their protests. Referring to a prior communication dated October 30, 2024, the finance department confirmed that the 8% increase raises the total DA rate for Punjab government staff from 42% to 50%. However, employee leaders criticised the order for failing to clarify effective dates for two pending 4% DA installments and for omitting details regarding retroactive arrears. A general secretary of the Civil Secretariat Employee Union said that the absence of a timeline suggests the state government is attempting to decouple Punjab's DA structure from central government patterns, which it historically followed. The Sanjha Mulazim Manch-an umbrella organisation representing 153 state employee unions-will meet on September 27 to decide whether to accept the government's offer or resume the agitation....