New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a Union Cabinet meeting where it was decided to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners, effective from January 2024.
This increase of 4 percent over the existing rate of 46 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension aims to mitigate the impact of price rise.
The financial impact of both DA and DR amounts to Rs 12,868.72 crore per annum. Approximately 49.18 lakh central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners will benefit from this decision, which aligns with the recommendations of the seventh Central Pay Commission.
Furthermore, the Union Cabinet extended the subsidy of Rs 300 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to its beneficiaries until March 2025. This decision, announced by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, follows last year’s increase in the cooking gas subsidy for poor households.
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The Cabinet also gave its nod to the ‘India AI Mission’ with an allocation of Rs 10,371.92 crore over five years. This mission aims to promote AI development within the country by providing subsidies to private companies establishing AI compute capacity and offering seed funding to AI startups.
Additionally, the government raised the minimum support price (MSP) for raw jute to Rs 5,335 per quintal for the 2024-25 season, benefiting farmers, particularly in eastern states like West Bengal.
Moreover, a new industrial development scheme called UNNATI, worth Rs 10,037 crore, was approved for northeast states. This scheme aims to foster industrial growth and employment generation in the North East Region, contributing to overall socio-economic development.
These announcements precede the upcoming general elections scheduled for April-May.
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