The Hindu : In pre-poll season, Raje rains sops on govt. staff

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Sunday, Feb 29, 2004

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In pre-poll season, Raje rains sops on govt. staff

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, FEB. 28. The Rajasthan Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, today announced merger of 50 per cent of dearness allowance paid to the State Government employees into their salaries from July 1 next and raised the rate of DA by 2 per cent from January 1 this year. The arrears of five months will be deposited in the general provident fund of the employees.

The sops to the employees have been designed along the steps taken by the Central Government recently. Ms. Raje, addressing a Press conference here this evening, said the Centre had accepted the Fifth Pay Commission's recommendation for conversion of 50 per cent of DA into dearness pay and the State had followed suit.

In another significant step aimed at benefiting both the organised and unorganised sectors, the State Government has increased the minimum wages for unskilled labourers from Rs. 60 per day to Rs. 73 per day by linking it with the consumer price index. A hike of Rs. 13 per day has also been introduced for the semi-skilled and skilled labourers, taking their wages to Rs. 77 and Rs. 81 per day, respectively.

The announcements made before the coming Lok Sabha elections will have substantial financial implications. Ms. Raje said the burden on the State exchequer due to the payment of dearness pay would be close to Rs. 215 crores a year, while the DA arrears would amount to Rs. 65 crores. The increase in minimum wages -- to become effective in the next financial year -- will lead to additional commitments of Rs. 18 crores every year.

Ms. Raje said the 100-day action plan formulated by the State Government had covered almost all sections of society, such as women, youth and farmers, but the employees had been left out. "With this step, this important segment has been given its due,'' she said, while assuring that the bonus to the Government employees, stopped by the previous Congress regime, would be paid on Diwali this year.

The support extended by the Government employees to Bharatiya Janata Party during the last Assembly elections was considered one of the important factors responsible for bringing the party back to power in the State.

The sops, fulfilling several of Ms. Raje's promises to employees, are seemingly aimed at ensuring the continued support of this section during the Lok Sabha polls.

Other announcements by the Chief Minister pertained to the supply of textbooks free of cost to those students whose parents do not pay income tax, opening of three more offices of Sub-Registrar in Jaipur for registry of immovable property and the establishment of a state-of-the-art knowledge technology industrial park on the outskirts of Jaipur.

The State Government will invite private sector to participate in the industrial park's development on 18 bighas of land near the Sanganer airport. Ms. Raje said it would be the first step towards enlarging Rajasthan's share in the IT-enabled services and biotechnology, which was at present negligible due to strategic and infrastructure shortcomings.

The Chief Minister affirmed that all the works envisaged as part of the 100-day action plan would be completed within the deadline, March 31, and the State would emerge as a model for others in the planning and execution of development programmes. She hinted that the BJP would capitalise on "all these achievements'' during the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.

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In pre-poll season, Raje rains sops on govt. staff