According to the Union Finance Ministry, the benefit of this non-productivity linked bonus (ad-hoc bonus) will be given to all non-gazetted employees falling under Group-B and Group-C.
In what comes as a piece of good news to central government employees in the festive season, the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced to give a Diwali bonus to central employees. According to the decision taken on Tuesday (October 17), employees will be given money equivalent to 30 days’ basic salary as a Diwali bonus. According to PTI, the maximum limit of bonus has been fixed at Rs 7,000.
According to the Union Finance Ministry, the benefit of this non-productivity linked bonus (ad-hoc bonus) will be given to all non-gazetted employees falling under Group-B and Group-C. These employees are usually not covered under any productivity-linked bonus scheme. Besides, the bonus will be admissible to the eligible employees of Central Para Military Forces and Armed Forces.
The orders will be deemed to be extended to the employees of the Union Territory Administration, which follow the Central Government pattern of emoluments and are not covered by any other bonus or ex-gratia scheme.
The notification also said only those employees who were in service as of March 31, 2023 and have rendered at least six months of continuous service during the year 2022-23 will be eligible for payment.
“The casual labourers who have worked in offices following a six days week for at least 240 days for each year for three years or more (206 days in each year for three years or more in the case of offices observing a five-day week) will be eligible,” the order said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet meeting is going to be held on October 18 (Wednesday) at 10.30 am. According to media reports, in this Cabinet meeting, the Modi government can also give Diwali gifts to central employees and pensioners by increasing dearness allowance. There is a possibility of a 4 percent increase in dearness allowance, after which the total dearness allowance will increase to 46 percent.