NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Friday approved a 4% hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for nearly 1.2 crore serving central government employees and pensioners. It also approved extending the Rs 200 subsidy per cylinder under the Ujjwala scheme for one more year, which will bring relief to nearly 9.6 crore beneficiaries.
Announcing the decisions, Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said the Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi decided to increase the DA and DR from 38% to 42% and this will be applicable from January 2023. The government said this has been done to “compensate against price rise”. This will benefit about 47.6 lakh serving employees and 69.8 lakh pensioners. This is usually revised twice every year — in January and July.
The new DA rate will be applicable for the entire FY24, beginning April, as well. The government said the combined impact of this hike on the exchequer would be nearly Rs 12,816 crore per annum.
Thakur also said the decision to extend the subsidy of Rs 200 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills annually will bring relief to a large number of women beneficiaries. This was announced to help contend with the spike in international prices of LPG.
The total expenditure to the exchequer will be around Rs 6,100 crore for financial year 2023 and Rs 7,680 crore for 2024 for this flagship social welfare scheme. There are nearly 9.6 crore consumers who have got the LPG connection free of cost under the Ujjwala scheme launched in May 2016. The government did away with subsidies on the general category of LPG consumers in May 2020 when global oil and refined product prices tanked as the world shut down to check the spread of Covid-19.
The subsidy for Ujjwala connection holders was announced on May 21 last year. “There has been a sharp increase in international prices of LPG due to various geopolitical reasons. It is important to shield PMUY (Ujjwala) beneficiaries from high LPG prices,” the government said.
The Cabinet also announced a hike in the MSP for raw jute for 2023-24 season. The MSP of raw jute has been fixed at Rs 5,050 per quintal for 2023-24 season. “This would ensure a return of 63.2% over the all-India weighted average cost of production,” the government said.
The total expenditure to the exchequer will be around Rs 6,100 crore for financial year 2023 and Rs 7,680 crore for 2024 for the Ujjwala scheme. There are nearly 9.6 crore consumers who have got the LPG connection free of cost under the flagship social welfare scheme
Announcing the decisions, Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said the Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi decided to increase the DA and DR from 38% to 42% and this will be applicable from January 2023. The government said this has been done to “compensate against price rise”. This will benefit about 47.6 lakh serving employees and 69.8 lakh pensioners. This is usually revised twice every year — in January and July.
The new DA rate will be applicable for the entire FY24, beginning April, as well. The government said the combined impact of this hike on the exchequer would be nearly Rs 12,816 crore per annum.
Thakur also said the decision to extend the subsidy of Rs 200 per 14.2 kg cylinder for up to 12 refills annually will bring relief to a large number of women beneficiaries. This was announced to help contend with the spike in international prices of LPG.
The total expenditure to the exchequer will be around Rs 6,100 crore for financial year 2023 and Rs 7,680 crore for 2024 for this flagship social welfare scheme. There are nearly 9.6 crore consumers who have got the LPG connection free of cost under the Ujjwala scheme launched in May 2016. The government did away with subsidies on the general category of LPG consumers in May 2020 when global oil and refined product prices tanked as the world shut down to check the spread of Covid-19.
The subsidy for Ujjwala connection holders was announced on May 21 last year. “There has been a sharp increase in international prices of LPG due to various geopolitical reasons. It is important to shield PMUY (Ujjwala) beneficiaries from high LPG prices,” the government said.
The Cabinet also announced a hike in the MSP for raw jute for 2023-24 season. The MSP of raw jute has been fixed at Rs 5,050 per quintal for 2023-24 season. “This would ensure a return of 63.2% over the all-India weighted average cost of production,” the government said.
The total expenditure to the exchequer will be around Rs 6,100 crore for financial year 2023 and Rs 7,680 crore for 2024 for the Ujjwala scheme. There are nearly 9.6 crore consumers who have got the LPG connection free of cost under the flagship social welfare scheme
