Govt announces two years' bonus

The government has given 33 lakh central government employees a reason to cheer after FM Arun Jaitley said they will be getting their annual bonus that has been pending for last two years.

"The bonus entitlement for 2014-15 and 2015-16 will be released on the revised norms for central government employees. This was pending for two years. After this, the bonus will be covered under the 7th Pay Commission," Jaitley said.

BJP-led NDA government has raised the minimum wage by 42%, a significant revision since 2008 besides deciding to release bonus for central government employees, based on the revised norms.

The announcement comes ahead of all central trade unions barring RSS-affiliated BMS going on a nationwide strike on September 2.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is chairman of the inter-ministerial committee on labour set up last year, announced the pro-worker decisions of the government based on the recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee.

Other members of the committee include labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya, power minister Piyush Goyal and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Following this announcement, labour minister Dattatreya urged all central trade unions to reconsider their decision for the proposed strike in the interest of the nation.