By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 30, 2016 : Odisha government on Saturday announced 6% increase in dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees. With this hike, the DA for government staff has now reached 125%.

The hike in the DA will cost the exchequer an additional Rs 676.90 crore annually

The hike in DA will come into force with retrospective effect from January 1 this year, finance minister Pradeep Amat said.

“The DA hike has been approved by chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The state government employees are presently getting 119% DA and will be getting 125% DA following the increase by 6%. This will be effective retrospective from January 2016,” Pradeep Amat told media persons on Saturday.

The hike will benefit four lakh government employees and three lakh pensioners in the state.

Last October, the state government had hiked the DA by 6% taking it to 119%.