Centre announces Diwali bonus for govt employees for Group C

The Modi-led government is spreading festive cheer ahead of Diwali, approving special bonuses for Group C and non-gazetted Group B officials, which includes paramilitary forces. The finance ministry has set a limit of ₹7,000 for non-productivity-linked bonuses for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

In a memo issued by the Department of Expenditure under the finance ministry, it was announced that a non-productivity linked bonus, equivalent to 30 days' worth of pay for the accounting year 2022-23, has been granted to central government employees in Group 'C' and all non-gazetted employees in Group 'B' who aren't covered by any productivity-linked bonus program.

The government has specified certain conditions for distributing this bonus:

Only employees in service as of March 31, 2023, and who have worked for at least six continuous months during the year 2022-23 will be eligible for this bonus. Pro-rata payments will be made to eligible employees for periods of service ranging from six months to a full year, based on the number of months served.
The bonus amount will be determined based on average emoluments or a calculation ceiling, whichever is lower. To calculate the bonus for one day, the annual average emoluments will be divided by 30.4 (the average number of days in a month) and then multiplied by the number of bonus days granted.
Casual labourers who have worked at least 240 days per year for three years or more (206 days per year for three years or more for offices with a five-day week) will also be eligible for this bonus, with the amount calculated based on their actual monthly emoluments.
All bonus payments will be rounded off to the nearest rupee.
The government noted that the expenses for this bonus will be covered under the Department of Expenditure notification dated December 16, 2022.
The government also clarified that the cost of this ad-hoc bonus will be covered within the allocated budget of the relevant ministries/departments for the current year. This initiative aims to provide government employees with extra financial support during the festive season.