Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has announced an increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for 6,507 computer teachers under the Punjab ICT Education Society (PICTES), raising it from 181 per cent to 221 per cent ahead of Diwali.The 40-percentage-point increase was announced alongside salary-related benefits for 1,007 non-teaching employees under Samagra Shiksha, whose services were recently regularised.CM Mann said the government remained committed to the welfare and secure future of its employees and extended Diwali greetings.The announcement follows a separate DA increase of three percentage points for around eight lakh Punjab government employees and pensioners on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, CM Mann described that increase as a Diwali gift and said it would be paid with the December salary.He said DA for these employees and pensioners had risen from 28 per cent when his government took office in 2022 to 53 per cent.
He added that the government had increased it by 11 percentage points over the past two months. However, a day after Wednesday’s announcement, government employees and pensioners said they would hold a series of protests against the AAP government to press their demands, including the release of DA arrears.Under the banner of the Sanjha Mulazam Manch, they demanded the release of pending DA, implementation of the Old Pension Scheme, restoration of old pay scales and regularisation of contractual and outsourced employees.- Ends