Uttar Pradesh seeks poll panel's nod to hike staff DA

Lucknow, April 11 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh government has sought the Election Commission's permission to hike the dearness allowance of state government employees to 100 percent, officials said Friday.

The ruling Samajwadi Party has pushed for the hike with an eye to the 17 lakh strong state employee population, a senior official told IANS. The government has urged the EC for an early decision so that 50 percent of the dearness allowance could be added to the April salary, to be disbursed in May.

The remaining amount would be deposited in the general provident fund later, an official said.

The dole would cost the state government Rs.1,400 crore, provision of which was made in the interim budget cleared by the state assembly in February.

The move is also seen by many as an effort by the Akhilesh Yadav government to match a similar dole to the central government employees when the UPA government hiked the DA by 10 percent, taking it to 100 percent.

Poll panel officials said they have received the proposal and sent it to the Election Commission's central office in New Delhi.