Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday announced a 3% hike in Dearness Allowances (DA), from 31% to 34%, for government employees and pensioners in the state. With the Chief Minister’s announcement on Independence Day, about 16 lakh people including standing and retired government employees stand to benefit, and the hike is expected to cost the exchequer about Rs 1947.6 crore.
While addressing the public after hoisting the national flag on Independence Day, CM Stalin announced that the pension of freedom fighters has been hiked from Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 from August 15 and the pension for freedom fighters’ families has been increased to Rs 10,000 from Rs 6,000. The monthly family pension to the heirs of freedom fighters Veerapandya Katta Bomman, Maruthu Pandiyars, Mutharamalinga Vijayaraghunatha Sethupathi, and VO Chidambaram has also been increased from Rs 9,000 to Rs 10,000. The Chief Minister also announced that an Independence Day museum with all modern technologies will be set up in Chennai.
In his speech, CM Stalin hailed Mahatma Gandhi and claimed that the DMK regime's Dravidian model embodied all such lofty principles for the common good of all sections of people. "These are the urgent and necessary ideals for the nation today. We are administering the Dravidian model government which encompasses all such humanitarian ideals," he said. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister added that internal unity was important and paramount to facing any external onslaught and that was a true tribute to the freedom fighters who had sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the country.
CM Stalin also conferred the state government's Eminent Tamilian Award (Thagaisal Tamizhar Virudhu) for 2022 on veteran CPI leader, 96-year old R Nallakannu. The award, with a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, is in honour of the Left leader's 80 years of service to the poor and marginalised sections of society and his participation in the freedom movement, the citation said. Stalin also gave away several other state awards under various categories to awardees.
These included the APJ Abdul Kalam Award for significant contribution in the fields of science, humanities and students’ welfare, and the Kalpana Chawla Award for women for courageous services to help people.
(With PTI and IANS inputs)