On Wednesday, the Centre announced several big decisions; one, a hike in Dearness Allowance for central government employees; another, a hike in MSP for farmers right ahead of Diwali. Here’s early Diwali for central employees :
The Cabinet has approved a 3% hike in the Dearness Allowance (DA) to employees and Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners. It will come into effect on July 1, 2024. This will benefit more than 1 crore people. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the financial implication of this DA/DR hike is estimated to be ₹9,448 crore. His earlier DA/DR hike was by 4% in March, in view of the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers over the last 12 months.
CCEA under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi also sanctioned an increase in MSP for all the following mandated Rabi crops for the Marketing Season 2025-26. Significantly, for all the crops, it increased absolute MSP for rapeseed and mustard at ₹300 a quintal. The increase in lentils (masur) was ₹275 a quintal. MSP for gram has been enhanced by ₹210 per quintal, wheat by ₹150 per quintal, safflower by ₹140 per quintal, and barley by ₹130 per quintal. With this, the promise made in the Union Budget 2018-19 to fix MSP at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production is being fulfilled.
In addition, it approved the PM Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) scheme valued at ₹35,000 crore. Under this scheme, the government wants to ensure that the farmers are paid a fair price for their produces and stabilize the market prices for consumers. Ashwini Vaishnaw elaborated that because of the distress sales likely to occur during peak harvesting times, the government has undertaken this initiative.
The central government sanctioned the Varanasi-Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) multi-tracking project, which would cost ₹2,642 crore. A new rail-cum-road bridge over the Ganga river will be constructed, and third and fourth railway lines will be added between Varanasi and DDU Junction besides other infrastructures. The project will improve operations by reducing congestion and providing much-needed infrastructure development along one of the busiest sections of Indian Railways, said the government. The Varanasi-DDU route is of significant importance not only to the passenger traffic but also for freight, as it carries coal, cement, and food grains besides accommodating any growing tourism and industrial demands. The stretch is likely to handle 27.83 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) freight.
