Nearly 17 lakh Maharashtra government employees and officers will get the October salary and for pensioners their monthly pension before the commencement of Diwali from October 22. This was approved by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Mr Devendra Fadnavis here on Tuesday. These employees and officers should have gotten their October salary and pensioners their pension in November but the government took the decision to pay early due to the upcoming Festival of Lights, said the Chief Minister’s Office.
The government’s decision will be applicable to the employees from the Zilla Parishad-approved and education institutes, agricultural and non-agricultural universities who get the government grant.
The government’s decision came days after the CM and DCM approved providing Diwali advance to all non-gazetted government employees in the state. In view of this decision, the Group C and B non-gazetted employees will also get festival advance on the lines of Class IV employees. An interest-free amount of Rs 12,500 will be given as a festival advance and a repayment facility has also been provided in 10 equal instalments.
Earlier the festival advance was announced in 2018. Nearly 5 lakh non-gazetted government employees will benefit. The government hopes for higher revenue mobilisation because of large-scale purchases from the advance during Diwali.
Meanwhile, after the meeting chaired by the CM Mr Eknath Shinde with the employees' unions and the management, the employees and teachers of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and the staff members of the BrihanMumbai Electric Supply and Transport will get a bonus of Rs 22,500. On the other hand, the health workers will be provided one month’s salary as a bonus.
