New Delhi, Oct 25 (IANS): The government Tuesday presented a Diwali gift to journalists and other employees of newspapers and news agencies by approving the recommendations of their wage boards.

The decision, taken at a meeting of the union cabinet Tuesday, will benefit more than 40,000 employees of newspapers and news agencies across the country, an official release said.

Justice (Retd) G.R. Majithia headed both the wage boards - one for journalists and another for non-journalist employees - which were appointed in May 2007.

"The cabinet today approved the final recommendations alongwith certain corrections and rectifications carried out under the Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees Act, 1955," the release added.

The revised wages will be paid with retrospective effect from July 2010.

The recommendations regarding allowances like the transport allowance, house rent allowance and hardship allowance will come into effect from the date of the notification of the wage board awards in the gazette.

Though the Supreme Court is currently hearing a petition filed by some newspaper managements challenging the wage boards' reports, which were submitted on Dec 31, 2010, the apex court said recently that it was not preventing the government from approving the recommendations.