Delhi govt gives cash boost to employees in festival season

NEW DELHI:  The festive season will bring some cheer for the employees of the Delhi government as it announced a cash package for them on Thursday. In a bid to boost the consumption expenditure, the Aam Aadmi Party-led government said that its employees can take cash equivalent of leave travel concession (LTC) during the block of 2018-21 if they opt for it. 

Under this, the employees who are entitled to business class airfare will get Rs 36,000 LTC followed by Rs 20,000 for the employees who are entitled to an economy class of airfare. The employees who are entitled to rail fare of any class will get Rs 6,000 LTC.

The government has also decided to provide advance special festival packages of Rs 10,000 to its employees without any interest charges. The special festival advance will be given for any important festivals up to March 31, 2021. Through this package government also aims to encourage spending by employees in the market to boost the local economy. 

Earlier, this provision was only there for the non-gazetted employees now it would apply to both gazetted and non-gazetted employees. Employees will get a preloaded Rupay card of the advance value. The Finance department under Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has decided to give a mega festive package to Delhi government employees given the hardships due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown, the statement said.

Government is hopeful that these steps will bring some ease to the lives of the employees and they will be able to happily celebrate the festivals with their family. The special festival advance is being given with a view to enabling government servants to meet expenses relating to festivals and to encourage spending, thereby giving a boost to economic activities, the statement said.