<h1>Government raises dearness allowance by 3% from October 1, boosting pay and pensions, adding about Rs 125 crore burden</h1> The state government announced an additional 3% dearness allowance (DA) for employees and dearness relief (DR) for pensioners effective October 1, benefiting 105,739 employees and 84,342 pensioners and adding about Rs 125 crore to the fiscal burden for the remainder of the year. With the increase, state DA rises to 36% versus 52% for central employees. Officials noted a prior revision of the fitment factor after taking office, which raised basic pay to levels aligned with the 7th Central Pay Commission and produced a 14.22% increase in basic pay.