Gujarat announces 3% DA hike for employees, pensioners ahead of Diwali

Ahead of Diwali, the Gujarat government has announced a 3% hike in dearness allowance (DA) for around 9.69 lakh of its employees and pensioners.

A decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of the state Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday.

A week ago, the Union Cabinet approved a 3 per cent hike in the DA for central government employees and pensioners.

Announcing the decision, spokesperson of the government and senior minister Jitu Vaghani said in an official statement, “This increase in the dearness allowance will come into effect from July 1, 2026. A total of over 9.69 lakh families—comprising 4.62 lakh employees (from state services, panchayat services, and other organisations) covered under the 6th and 7th Pay Commissions, along with approximately 5.07 lakh retired employees—will directly benefit financially from this decision.”

“The state government will pay a total of Rs 523 crore to employees as arrears for four months. This arrears amount will be credited to the accounts of employees and pensioners along with the salary/pension for November 2026…the increase in the dearness allowance will impose an additional annual financial burden of Rs 1,569 crore on the state government,” the statement added.

4-day Diwali holiday

To ensure that state government employees can spend Diwali holidays with their families in their native, the state government has announced a holiday on November 9. This will ensure that state employees will have continuous holidays from November 8 to 11. November 8, 10 and 11 are holidays on the occasion of Diwali, Gujarati New Year and Bhai Beej, respectively.

The General Administration Department of the state government has issued a notification in this regard, in which it has also been stated that in lieu of November 9, state government employees will work on November 28, which is otherwise a holiday being a fourth Saturday.

Nod for fish landing centre at Shiyal Bet island

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The state Cabinet has given an in-principle approval to the proposal to develop a Fish Landing Centre at Shiyal Bet island of Amreli district – a long-pending demand of the fishing community in the area.

Shiyalbet island has a total population of around 2,680 people with over 1,100 active fishermen and 154 boats. In an official statement, Vaghani said, “Under this project, modern infrastructure—including a pile jetty, land reclamation, stone bunds, paved surfaces, and electrical facilities—will be developed on the island. The construction of these facilities will consolidate all processes related to the handling, storage, auctioning, preservation, and transportation of fish in a single location.”

The state government has also decided that on the occasion of the 151st birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, celebrations will be organised in all the districts including all assembly constituencies of the 14 tribal districts on November 15. The state-level function of the celebration will be organised in Chhota Udepur district.