After fuel price hike, DA raised by four pc

The Cabinet today raised dearness allowance for Central government employees and pensioners by four per cent to 59 per cent with effect from...

The Cabinet today raised dearness allowance for Central government employees and pensioners by four per cent to 59 per cent with effect from July, a move which will entail an additional cost of Rs 973.04 crore to the national exchequer this fiscal.

The DA hike follows the increase in consumer price index in June to 487.33 points, 59.09 per cent higher than the base index of 306.33 as on January 1996. On annual basis, the additional burden to the exchequer would be Rs 1,459.24 crore, but this fiscal the impact would Rs 973.04 crore because the package would be available from July.

The government also approved the continuation of scholarships to pre-matric students whose parents are engaged in unclean occupations like scavenging and sweeping, and raised the quantum that would be available to these students. A spokesman said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs raised monthly scholarships to day-scholars from this fiscal to Rs 40 from Rs 25 for classes I to V, Rs 60 from Rs 40 for classes VI to VIII and Rs 75 from Rs 50 for those in classes IX and X.

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For hostellers, the monthly scholarship has been raised to Rs 300 from Rs 200 for classes III to VIII, Rs 375 from Rs 250 for those in classes IX and X.

The annual ad-hoc grant has also been raised to Rs 550 from Rs 500 for day-scholars and to Rs 600 for boarders. The scheme benefits 5.47 lakh students while the total fund outgo during 2002-07 would be Rs 72.29 crore for the Centrally-sponsored scheme.

The CCEA also approved a scheme to benefit 132 backward districts under the development and reform facility Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojna. Each of these districts will receive Rs 15 crore per annum for speedy development to reduce economic and social imbalances. The areas of focus would be law, agricultural productivity and unemployment.

The Centre will allocate Rs 5,940 crore during the Tenth Five Year Plan as special Central assistance on 100 per cent grant basis paid to the states in their annual plans. The scheme will be operational from this fiscal and will be reviewed after three years. The Cabinet also approved a long-pending demand of trade unions for fixing service conditions in shops and commercial establishments in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

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The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Shops & Establishments Regulation 2003 will be promulgated to chart out working hours, wages and other conditions. The CCEA approved a 500 megawatt-electrical (MWe) prototype fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu at an estimated cost of Rs 3,492 crore. The reactor would also be India’s demonstration of the techno-economic viability of its second phase of the nuclear power programme. The project, to be completed in eight years, will generate 2,585 million units of energy at 62.8 per cent plant load capacity.

The CCEA also approved a new uranium ore processing mill at Banduhurang, Jharkhand. The plant, costing Rs 343.26 crore, will be 50 per cent financed by the Centre and 50 per cent from resources of the Uranium Ore Mining and Milling Project. It will be completed in three years.