Friday, January 20 2006 14:33 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: In a bid to woo the electorate with the assembly polls just four months away, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today (Jan 20,2006) announced various relief measures and concessions to the tune of nearly Rs.1600 crore covering people belonging to all strata of society, notably Government employees and the rain-affected people and farmers.

Prominent among the slew of concessions announced by her included merger of 50 per cent of the Dearness allowance with the basic pay of state government employees, teachers and pensioners, a long pending demand of this section.

The 50 per cent merger of the DA with the basic pay would take effect from Jan.one this year. Nearly 12.38 lakh State Government employees and teachers and 4.30 lakh pensioners would stand to benefit by this announcement which would involve an additional expenditure of Rs.1200 crore a year to the Government, she said replying to the three-day debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address to the state assembly.

This major concession to the government employees would be more or less equal to a wage hike, she said and asked the employees to put their best foot forward in discharging their duties more effectively and efficiently.