Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to increase the festival allowance of employees from Rs. 1500 last year to Rs. 1750 this year.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the media after the Cabinet meeting that employees who were not eligible for bonus on account of their salaries exceeding the bonus limit would be eligible for the festival allowance. The bonus rates would remain the same as last year. The Onam advance for employees would go up from Rs. 7500 to Rs. 8500.
The festival allowance for contingent and other workers-- who are not eligible for bonus, would be hiked by Rs. 150. Thus, those who received the maximum of Rs. 600 last year would receive Rs. 750 and those received the minimum allowance Rs. 300 would receive Rs. 450 this year.
Mr. Chandy said that the employees of public sector units would receive bonus and festival allowance as per the guidelines issued last year. Cabinet would meet specially at 5 pm on Friday to decide on festival allowance to certain categories of workers like estate and factory workers who had been rendered jobless following closure of estates and factories.
