The Assam cabinet on Friday approved a two-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees, raising it from 58% to 60% of basic pay, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
The decision was taken at the first cabinet meeting following its expansion with the inclusion of 12 new ministers, 11 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and one from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), earlier in the day.
“Today we decided to increase the DA of government employees by two-percentage-point. Till now, they were getting 58% DA; after the hike, it will reach 60%,” Sarma said after the meeting.
He added that the cabinet also approved a total land area of 20 square kilometres for the second capital complex, which is being planned in Dibrugarh, around 440 km east of Guwahati.
“The complex will be within Dibrugarh district. The local MLA of Dibrugarh will be the chairman of the Dibrugarh Second Capital Complex Development Authority and he will be given cabinet rank,” said Sarma, adding that a budget of ₹500 crore would be spent over five years to develop the complex.
The chief minister said that the cabinet approved an increase in the MLA area development fund from the existing ₹1 crore per year to ₹1.5 crore for the current financial year and ₹2 crore from next year.
“There was no increase in the fund since 2016. Ten percent of that amount can be used by the MLA for disbursal for immediate needs of students like providing fans in schools, laptops to meritorious students or procuring an ambulance etc,” said Sarma.
He stated that the next session of the Assembly, which will be the budget session, will start on July 6.
Sarma said that the allocation of portfolios to the new ministers who took oath on Friday would be done within a week.
