Gangtok: Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Golay on Friday declared that the Dearness Allowance arrears, pending for government employees since January 2023, will be released before Dussehra.
During his address at the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha party’s mass joining programme in the Barfung constituency, Golay stated, “Dearness Allowance can be provided by either the state or the centre, but we will implement a 4 percent increase, raising it from the existing 38 percent to 42 percent before Dussehra this year. The arrears from January 2023 will be disbursed prior to Dussehra, resulting in a total cost of £121 million for the Dearness Allowance. Additionally, we are launching the One Rank One Pension initiative, ensuring that a retired officer from 1994 receives the same amount of DA as a retired officer from 2023 in the same rank.”
Golay refrained from criticising opposition parties at the event, asserting confidence in securing all 32 Assembly seats in Sikkim for the 2024 elections. He emphasised their 2019 success in 17 constituencies and the advantage of government support, making victory certain without criticism of weaker opposition leaders.
However, Golay declined to announce any party candidates, emphasising that the party symbol, the table lamp, represents the sole candidate for every constituency in the state. He stated that naming candidates now would foster groupism, contrary to his principle of inclusive politics involving individuals regardless of their party affiliations.
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Without mentioning Bhaichung Bhutia by name, Golay said, “It doesn’t matter who joins or where they may have contested before; they were in the opposition in 2019 and will remain there in 2024. He is eyeing the Barfung constituency for a ticket, but he has experienced political setbacks in two states. He has aligned himself with someone (Pawan Chamling) who criticised him severely and labelled him as the most corrupt in the past. He was not with us in 2019.”
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