Before the Bihar Assembly elections, the state government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today approved a 3 percent increase in the dearness allowance for more than 10 lakh state employees. Along with government employees, pensioners will also benefit from this with three percent dearness relief. 

 

 

The decision was approved today in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The increased dearness allowance and dearness relief will be applicable from July 1 of this year. With this 3 percent increase, the dearness allowance for state employees and pensioners has risen from 55 percent to 58 percent.

 

 

In another major decision, the state government has also doubled the scholarships given to students from Class 1 to Class 8. Students from Classes 1 to 5 will now receive an annual scholarship of 1,200 rupees instead of 600 rupees. Similarly, students from Classes 5 to 6 will receive 2,400 rupees instead of 1,200 rupees. The scholarship for students of Classes 7 to 8 has been doubled from 1,800 rupees to 3,600 rupees annually.