Union Cabinet approves DA and dearness relief by 1 per cent to 5 per cent

New Delhi-Union Cabinet approves to increase dearness allowance and dearness relief by 1 per cent to 5 per cent, benefiting 50 lakh employees and 61 lakh pensioners.This decision was taken at the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The new rate will be applicable from July 1. This move will benefit about 49.26 lakh central government employees and 61.17 lakh pensioners.Union Cabinet also approved hiving off mobile towers of state-run telecom firm BSNL into a separate company. There are around 4,42,000 mobile towers in the country, out of which BSNL owns more than 66,000.