Thiruvananthapuram: The festival allowance for lottery agents and sellers has been increased to Rs 7,000. Finance Minister K N Balagopal announced that pensioners will get Rs 2,500.

Last year, festival batta was sanctioned in the order of Rs.6,000 and Rs.2,000 for lottery agents and sellers respectively. Rs 26.67 crores will be distributed among 35,600 agents and sellers and 7,009 pensioners during Onam.

On Friday, the state government had decided to give a bonus of Rs 4,000 to government employees and teachers. Those who are not eligible for bonus will get Rs 2,750 as special festival allowance. Rs 1,000 will be disbursed as a special festival allowance for service pensioners.

Employees retired under the Participatory Pension Scheme will also be entitled to a special holiday allowance. Rs 20,000 will be given as Onam advance to all government employees. An amount of Rs 6,000 will be distributed as advance for other employees, including part-time and contingent employees.