Kerala sanctions DA, DR arrears for govt employees & pensioners; to be paid in 8 instalments

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Wednesday sanctioned the arrears of Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees and teachers and the Dearness Relief (DR) arrears for pensioners with retrospective effect. The arrears will be disbursed in eight instalments beginning from the next financial year.

The arrears have been granted by giving retrospective effect to all previously sanctioned DA and DR instalments. Teachers covered under the UGC, AICTE and Medical Education schemes are also eligible for the arrears.

The announcement comes weeks after the government raised DA and DR rates from 25 per cent to 35 per cent.

The state government said it had already sanctioned the full amounts due for the DA and DR. However, Finance Minister K N Balagopal had announced in the Budget that the arrears arising from these revisions would be disbursed in phases. Funds required for distributing the instalments scheduled for the 2026–27 financial year have been earmarked in the Budget.

As part of the 11th Pay Revision, a 7 per cent DA hike was granted along with the April 2021 salary. Subsequently, five additional DA instalments were sanctioned in phases, with corresponding DR benefits provided to pensioners.

The pending 13 per cent DA and DR arrears were sanctioned in February and March this year. The latest government order grants arrears after calculating the actual eligible period for the entire DA and DR, with retrospective effect.