Centre is mulling paying Dearness Allowance  (DA) arrears to its employees.

central employees have been demanding for a long time the withheld DA from January 2020 to June 2021.

Finance Ministry had stopped the DA hike from May 2020 to June 30, 2021, due to the Covid pandemic.

Media reports quoting sources said there will be a meeting of the concerned officials soon to discuss the one-time payment of DA arrears. Reports said the government may give up to Rs 2 lakh to the employees as DA arrears, depending on the scale.

The DA of central employees was increased by 28 percent from July 1. Earlier, they were getting paid at the rate of 17 percent. At the same time, in October 2021, it increased to 3 percent and 31 percent. In March 2022, once again the dearness allowance has been increased by 3 percent.