HEADLINE: Section of state employees push for fuel allowance hike

Bhopal: Even amid the easing of global crude prices after Iran and the US agreed to a deal to end the West Asian war and open up the Strait of Hormuz, the critical maritime route for global energy trade, a section of state employees are pushing for a hike in fuel allowance.The classes 3 and 4 employees have said they are entitled to a monthly fuel allowance of Rs 384, claiming it was less than what it would cost them to buy 4 litres of petrol.Citing the recent volatility in global fuel prices, the employees have demanded that the govt, at least, bring their monthly fuel allowance on a par with the central govt staffers.The call for a hike in fuel allowance assumes significance, as it was raised last year from Rs 200 to Rs 384, a hike that came after 12 years.The employees’ union have also pushed for provision of a fuel allowance to staffers across the state.Only the state employees at Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, and Gwalior are currently entitled to the allowance.