The Hindu : National : 6% DA rise for Central staff

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Friday, Aug 31, 2007
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National

6% DA rise for Central staff

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to increase DA for Central government staff and dearness relief for pensioners by six per cent with effect from July 1.

It cleared an insurance scheme for the rural landless, and introduced changes in the Factories Act to facilitate employment of women in night shift.

The DA and DR rates will now go up to 41 per cent, said Union Minister and Cabinet spokesperson Priyaranjan Dasmunsi.

The additional financial implications for the exchequer would be Rs.3,284.94 crore a year — Rs. 2,206.86 crore towards DA and Rs.1,078.08 crore for DR. For the current financial year, however, the impact would be lower, at Rs.2,189.96 crore — Rs. 1,471.24 crore and Rs.718.72 crore.

The insurance scheme for rural landless households would provide coverage against natural and accidental deaths as well as permanent and partial disabilities.

To be launched on Gandhi Jayanthi, the scheme would provide insurance cover to the head of the family or an earning member in the age group of 18-59. The Centre and the State governments would equally share the premium amount of Rs. 200 per insured person.

In the event of natural death, the next of kin would get Rs.30,000 and in case of accidental death, the benefit would be Rs.75,000. For partial permanent disability (loss of an eye or limb in an accident) the insured person would get Rs.37,500, and for total permanent disability (loss of both eyes or both limbs or one eye and one limb in an accident) the compensation would be Rs.75,000.

Scholarships for children

The Aam Admi Bima Yojana would also provide scholarships at Rs.300 per quarter per child to two children of the beneficiaries who were studying in standards IX to XII. A Rs.500-crore fund would be created for the purpose. The State governments would be the nodal agency for implementation.

A fund of Rs.1,000 crore would be set up to meet the Centre’s liability towards payment of the premium. It would be operated by the Life Insurance Corporation. According to the National Sample Survey, there were 1.5 crore rural landless households. It was expected that in the first year, 70 lakh-80 lakh of them would be covered under the scheme.

The official amendments to the Factories (Amendment) Bill would provide flexibility in employment of women during night hours.

The Cabinet meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, decided to extend by six more months till February 2008 the validity of the Central notifications, which empowered the State governments to undertake de-hoarding operations and control the prices of wheat and pulses. The notifications, issued under the Essential Commodities Act, were due to end on September 1.

Package for AIR & DD

The Cabinet’s Committee on Economic Affairs, which also met on Thursday, approved the implementation of the second phase of the special package for improvement of the services of both AIR and DD in Jammu and Kashmir at a cost of Rs. 299.87 crore. The package is to enable DD Kashmir to improve its viewership by broadcasting better programmes and counter the influence of programmes aired from PoK and across the border.

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