MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan made the announcement to increase DA for state government employees at a mass marriage function at Gillor village in Sehore district on Friday. 

The decision to increase the dearness allowance is being seen in connection with assembly elections scheduled in the state by year-end.

MP Government had also announced to hike the DA for state government employees after a cabinet meeting on March 15. MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra had informed that the allowance was hiked with retrospective effect from January 1,2023 and will put an additional burden of ₹265 crore on the exchequer.   

Elections for 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh will be conducted by the year-end. In the 2018 assembly elections, Congress formed the government in the state after emerging as the single largest party with 114 seats while BJP came at a close second with 109 seats.

However, Kamal Nath-led Congress government collapsed in March 2020 after the rebellion from MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia. Scindia and his supporters later joined the BJP which led to the saffron party coming back to its stronghold once again.

Recently, Odisha government also announced a 4 per cent increase in DA for its 7.5 lakh employees and pensioners with retrospective effect from January 23. The DA for Odisha government employees has now been increased to 42 per cent and will be reflected in the June salary.

Last month, the Congress-led government in Karnataka also increased the DA for its employees by 4 per cent with retrospective effect from 1 January 2023. The DA in Karnataka has been increased from 31 per cent to 35 per cent.

(With inputs from agencies)

Updated: 24 Jun 2023, 12:47 PM IST