Gandhinagar: On Tuesday, the state finance department issued a government resolution (GR) approving a significant increase of around 150% in the allowances for refreshments and meals for officers and their guests.

Officers of secretary rank and above will now receive ₹50 per person for tea or breakfast, up from the previous ₹20, while the lunch and dinner allowance has been raised to ₹250 per person from ₹100. The annual ceiling for these allowances has also been increased to ₹25,000 from ₹10,000.

Department heads of secretary rank will receive similar benefits, with provisions for entertaining guests remaining unchanged. For officers below secretary rank, the per-person allowance for refreshments has been revised to ₹35, up from ₹15, although they remain ineligible for lunch or dinner allowances.

Collectors and DDOs will now be entitled to ₹25 per person, an increase from ₹10, with their annual limit raised to ₹7,500 from ₹3,000. However, they are also ineligible for lunch or dinner allowances. DeshGujarat