Government of Kerala has approved the payment of long-pending dearness allowance (DA) arrears for state-government employees and teachers, along with dearness relief (DR) dues for pensioners. The arrears will be settled retrospectively and released in phases over the coming years.
Under the new order, the payments will be made in eight instalments. Two instalments will be released each year starting from the next financial year. For serving employees, the arrear amount will be credited to their Provident Fund accounts. The funds can be withdrawn only after a lock-in period of four years.
Teachers covered under regulatory bodies such as the University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education will also receive the arrears. Faculty members in the medical education sector have been included in the same provision.
For pensioners, the pending Dearness Relief will be paid directly in cash. The payments will also be made in eight instalments over four years, with two instalments issued annually beginning after April this year. Retired employees who left service between 1 January, 2021 and 31 March this year will receive their arrears in cash once the disbursement cycle begins.
The decision follows the state’s announcement in the 2026–27 budget to clear outstanding DA and DR dues. Earlier this year, the state Finance Department approved a 13 per cent increase in both allowances.
State employees are eligible for a cumulative DA of 35 per cent for the period between January 2021 and July 2025. The overall financial burden for clearing the arrears is estimated at around Rs 39,000 crore, making it one of the largest such commitments by the state government in recent years.
