Chandigarh, April 8 -- The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday issued a landmark directive to the Punjab government, ordering it to grant dearness allowance (DA) to state government employees and pensioners at par with IAS, IPS, and judicial officers.
The court has set a strict deadline of June 30 for the disbursement of all pending arrears, dismissing the state government's plea regarding its strained financial health. This decision is expected to benefit approximately 3.5 lakh regular employees and over 4 lakh pensioners across the state.
During the proceedings, the court noted a significant disparity in the DA structure, where IAS and IPS officers in Punjab were receiving 58 per cent DA, while other state employees and pensioner...