Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced a ₹10 increase in the Variable Dearness Allowance for workers across the state on May 1, 2026, with the revised rates applicable retrospectively from April 1, 2026.
The hike applies to four worker categories: unskilled workers will now earn ₹472 per day, semi-skilled workers ₹522, skilled workers ₹572 and highly skilled workers ₹622.
The announcement was made at the state’s official International Labour Day function in Bhubaneswar, organised by the Odisha Labour Department. Odisha’s VDA, which is linked to the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers, is revised twice a year on April 1 and October 1 to adjust wages for inflation. The Friday announcement formalised the April cycle.
“The DVA will be implemented retrospectively from April 1. As a result, the daily wage for unskilled workers will increase to ₹472, for semi-skilled workers to ₹522, for skilled workers to ₹572, and for highly skilled workers to ₹622,” CM Majhi said in his address.
The Chief Minister also used the platform to outline the state’s broader workforce push. Majhi told the audience that more than 5 lakh construction workers had been registered under the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board during the 2025-26 financial year, with over ₹541 crore disbursed as assistance.
Majhi added that 92,000 youth had been placed in private-sector jobs over the last 22 months, of which 10,000 had returned to Odisha from other states. The state government also announced the launch of the Dalkhai Yojana, a new scheme aimed at providing year-round employment opportunities to local workers and curbing distress migration.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of opposition demands for a sharper wage revision. BJD president and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, along with Congress Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam, called on the same day for the state’s minimum wage to be raised to ₹800 per day, citing rising commodity prices.
The wage debate sits within Odisha’s wider labour reform window, with the state having already published draft rules on the Code on Wages in 2026 to align with the Centre’s four labour codes.
