New Delhi, Sep 28 (TIWN) In a festival bonanza for lakhs of Central government employees and pensioners, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its clearance for release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief at 4 per cent.

“The central government employees and pensioners will become entitled to higher amount of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) respectively, with effect from July 1, 2022,” said I&B Minister Anurag Thakur.

With the July 1 effective date for the latest dearness announcement hike, the staff would be paid the arrears with their latest salaries which would benefit about 47.68 lakh central government employees and 68.62 lakh pensioners.

The additional financial implications on account of the increase of DA to employees are estimated at Rs 6,591.36 crore per annum, and Rs 4,394.24 crore in the financial year 2022-23 (8 months from July, 2022 to February, 2023).