The governments of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have announced financial benefits for employees ahead of Diwali, including bonuses, a dearness allowance (DA) hike and festival advances.
In Maharashtra, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will give a Diwali bonus of ₹10,000 to each of its employees. The state-run transport undertaking has also increased the DA from 58% to 60%, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik announced on Thursday (November 5), according to PTI.
The decisions will benefit around 83,000 employees and result in an additional financial burden of approximately ₹160 crore on the corporation. Eligible employees will also receive a festival advance of ₹12,500, Sarnaik said.
The announcement was made at a meeting with representatives of MSRTC employee unions in Mumbai. Sarnaik said the government was committed to addressing employees’ concerns through dialogue and appealed to them not to resort to protests or strikes.
In Uttar Pradesh, the state government has approved a 30-day bonus for eligible employees for the financial year 2025-26.
The benefit will cover non-gazetted state government employees, along with staff of educational institutions, local bodies and district panchayats.
Under the arrangement, 25% of the bonus amount will be paid in cash, while the remaining 75% will be deposited into employees’ provident fund (PF) accounts. Employees who have retired or are due to retire shortly will receive the entire bonus in cash.
The state government has also extended the benefit to daily-wage employees, with the maximum bonus capped at ₹1,184, according to the government statement.
The two announcements cover different categories of employees and provide different forms of festive benefits. While Maharashtra’s measures apply to MSRTC employees and include a DA revision and festival advance, Uttar Pradesh’s approval provides a 30-day bonus to eligible employees for FY26.
Separately, in Tamil Nadu, the state government earlier announced bonus and ex-gratia payments for workers and employees of cooperative and public sector sugar mills for the financial year 2025-26.
According to an official release, workers at two cooperative sugar mills — Subramaniya Siva and Kallakurichi-II — will receive a maximum bonus of 20%, comprising an 8.33% statutory bonus and a 1.67% ex-gratia payment.
Workers at the remaining 14 cooperative and two public sector sugar mills will receive a 10% bonus, including the same statutory and ex-gratia components.
The announcement will benefit around 5,190 workers across 18 mills and entail an expenditure of ₹351.40 lakh, PTI reported.
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-With PTI inputs
Diwali 2026: Maharashtra transport staff to get ₹10,000 bonus, UP approves 30-day bonus for employees