Around 85,000 Punjab Government employees, recruited after July 17, 2020, are set to benefit from a major revision in dearness allowance (DA), with the state government preparing to raise it from 42 per cent to 60 per cent.However, no such relief has been offered so far to the remaining 3.15 lakh employees, who have also been protesting for enhanced DA and the release of pending instalments.The proposed increase was announced here on Friday by AAP Punjab president and Industry Minister Aman Arora, who described it as a “Janamashtami gift” to newly recruited employees. The decision was taken by the Cabinet sub-committee constituted to examine employees’ grievances. The panel comprises Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Social Security Minister Dr Baljit Kaur and Arora.The move is significant as these employees were recruited on the basis of central pay scales, which are lower than the scales recommended by the Sixth Punjab Pay Commission applicable to employees recruited under the state pay structure before July 2020. The previous Congress government, in an attempt to cut down on the rising cost of salaries, wages and pensions, had then (in July 2020) decided that all employees to be recruited prospectively will get the lower central government pay scales.“While 71,000 employees recruited by the AAP government stand to benefit, another 14,000 recruited during the previous Congress regime will also be the beneficiaries of this decision. It was on the instructions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann that the Cabinet sub-committee decided to remove the pay anomalies between employees recruited under different pay structures. We will be sending the recommendation to the CM for his final nod,” said Arora.Yesterday, the government had indicated that it was willing to address anomalies arising from the recruitment of employees on central pay scales after 2020. While Arora has today claimed that the proposed increase in DA is part of the measures being considered to bridge some of the disparity faced by this category of employees, the decision is likely to leave around 3.15 lakh employees — recruited before 2020 — waiting for relief on their long-pending demands, particularly the release of their outstanding DA instalments.This could have an important bearing on the ongoing confrontation between the government and its employees. Sukhchain Khera, convenor of the Sanjha Mullazam Manch, an umbrella body of various employee unions, reacted to the decision by saying that one of the main demands of the employees was that the decision taken on July 17, 2020, be withdrawn and all employees should be in one pay structure, getting salaries on the basis of the state pay commission.The decision to offer specific relief to employees recruited after 2020, while leaving the larger pre-2020 workforce and 3.5 lakh pensioners without a comparable announcement, could alter the dynamics of the agitation.Employee organisations have so far projected the agitation as a common fight over DA arrears and other service-related demands. The latest announcement, however, could create a divide between employees governed by different pay structures. GS Johal, president of the Government College Retired Teachers Welfare Association, called for parity in DA for all, as the UGC pay scales are tied to the central pay framework.The announcement today comes at a politically sensitive time, with employee organisations preparing for another round of mass casual leave on September 8. The employees had earlier observed mass casual leave on August 27 to press for their demands, including the release of pending DA dues, reverting to the Old Pension Scheme and withdrawal of the notification of 2020 that created two pay structures, besides other service-related demands.The employee agitation has acquired considerable political significance for the AAP government ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. Punjab has around four lakh government employees and 3.5 lakh pensioners, giving the issue a sizeable electoral footprint, with employees’ families also forming an important constituency.