Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas and Education Minister V. Sivankutty inaugurate a tug-of-war competition by competing against a team of journalists during the Onam celebrations held at Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
This Onam season, the State government’s spending from the treasury will cross ₹20,000 crore, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has said, adding that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has ensured its support to lakhs of families during the festival season.
This Onam, the government was spending ₹12,100 crore on salaries and pensions, Onam bonus and festival allowance, Onam advance, dearness allowance and dearness relief (DA/DR), benefitting over 13 lakh government employees, workers and pensioners, Mr. Balagopal said on Tuesday.
Social security pensions
As part of the welfare measures undertaken in view of the Onam festival, the State government had started the distribution of two instalments of social security and welfare fund pensions two weeks ago. The government has spent close to ₹1,800 crore on this critical social welfare measure, according to him.
The government also spent ₹34.29 crore on distributing 6.03 lakh Onam kits containing 15 items to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) card holders and residents of welfare homes. In August, the State government had announced an Onam bonus of ₹4,500, an increase of ₹500, to government employees and teachers.
Employees who are not entitled to the bonus will be eligible for ₹3,000 as special festival allowance, which had been hiked by ₹250. The special Onam allowance of service pensioners has been increased by ₹250 to ₹1,250, and the festival allowance of contract-scheme workers, by ₹250.
₹122 crore to KSRTC
In addition to these, the State government had also released ₹122 crore to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) towards the payment of the salaries for August and bonus and festival allowance of of ₹3,000. “This year, extensive arrangements were made under the leadership of the Finance department to welcome the Onam season. The State government has been able to ensure an Onam season sans price rise,” Mr. Balagopal said.
Published – September 02, 2025 09:30 pm IST
