Chandigarh, Sept. 4 -- Punjab government will raise the Dearness Allowance (DA) of around 85,000 government employees from 42 per cent to 60 per cent, to bring their DA in line with the Central pay pattern, Cabinet minister Aman Arora said on Friday.

The decision covers employees recruited after July 17, 2020, whose basic pay is based on the Central government's 7th Pay Commission matrix, but whose DA is based on Punjab's pay pattern.

The move does not cover employees recruited before July 17, 2020, who are paid as per the Punjab Pay Commission's matrix.

Speaking to mediapersons, Arora said the decision was taken by a three-member Cabinet Sub-Committee comprising him, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Social Security Minister Baljit Kaur. The recommendation will now be sent to Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann for final approval, he said.

Arora said the move addresses salary disparity between employees recruited before July 2020, who continue to be governed by Punjab's historically higher pay structure, and those recruited later under the Central pay pattern, with salaries much lower.

The Commerce minister, said the disparity stems from the change in pay structure for post-July 2020 recruits, approved by the then Punjab Cabinet in December 2020.

"This created two broad categories: existing employees governed by Punjab's higher pay structure and post-2020 recruits whose entry pay scales are based on the Central government's 7th CPC pattern," he added.

"Employees recruited before July 2020 continue to benefit from Punjab's higher basic pay scale. Employees recruited post-July 2020 were brought under the Central Pay Scale pattern but continued to receive Punjab's DA at 42 per cent. This distinction could not be ignored," Arora said.

He said Punjab government employees have historically drawn substantially higher salaries than their Central government counterparts, with employees in several major cadres receiving 30 per cent to 70 per cent higher salaries under Punjab-specific pay scales.

"However, the situation is different for employees recruited post-July 2020. They do not enjoy the higher Punjab entry pay scales. Therefore, the argument that a lower DA is offset by a substantially higher basic pay is far less applicable to this category," Arora said.

He said 85,000 employees were recruited in the last six years.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.