As Onam nears, the Kerala government has announced special bonuses of Rs 4,000 each to government employees in the state. The employees who are ineligible for a bonus will receive an amount of Rs 2,750 each as festival allowances, Minister for Finance KN Balagopal announced on Monday, August 14. The amounts are the same as last year.
The minister added that service pensioners and employees who retired under the contributory pension scheme will also receive a special festival allowance of Rs 1,000. Further, all government employees in the state will receive an Onam advance of Rs 20,000. Part time and contingent workers will receive Rs 6,000 as the Onam advance.
All categories of employees, including contract-scheme employees who received festival allowances last year, will be eligible for the allowance at the same rate this year as well. The Onam allowances are expected to benefit over 13 lakh employees.