Thiruvananthapuram: Bringing relief to lakhs of workers ahead of Onam, the Kerala government has announced festival allowances for employees across various sectors.

Cashew workers
Finance Minister KN Balagopal said cashew factory workers, whose units remain shut, will receive an ex gratia payment of ₹2,250 each, an increase of ₹250 compared to last year. The benefit will cover 13,835 workers in 425 factories. Each worker will also receive rice worth ₹250. The government has sanctioned ₹3.46 crore to meet the expenses.

Lottery sellers
Festival allowance for lottery agents and sellers has also been increased. Active members of the state lottery agents’ welfare board will receive ₹7,500 each, up by ₹500, while pensioners will get ₹2,750, up from ₹2,500. The government has allocated ₹30 crore, benefitting 37,000 active members and 8,700 pensioners.

Plantation workers
Workers in plantations that remain non-functional will be given gift coupons worth ₹1,000 each to purchase Onam kits from Supplyco. The government has sanctioned ₹21.49 lakh to support 2,149 estate workers under this scheme.

Khadi workers
The allowance for khadi workers has been raised by ₹250. Each of the 12,500 employees in the sector will now receive ₹2,000. An amount of ₹2.50 crore has been set aside for this purpose.

Traditional sectors
The government has also sanctioned ₹50 crore to provide additional support under the Income Support Scheme. The Onam aid will be distributed among 3,79,284 workers in traditional industries including coir, fishing, handlooms, khadi, bamboo, wild creepers, thazha plant, and beedi and cigar production.

Haritha Karma Sena
Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh announced that members of the Haritha Karma Sena will receive ₹1,250 as an Onam gift, marking a hike of ₹250 from last year’s amount of ₹1,000.