Bhubaneswar, March 14 -- There is no plan to release the 18 months of Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic to Central government employees, the Finance Ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Upper House that arrears of Dearness Allowance (DA)/Dearness Relief (DR) which mostly pertain to the difficult FY of 2020-21 are not considered feasible.

Chaudhary was responding to a question on whether the Government has any plan to release the 18 months DA Arrears stopped during Covid-19 pandemic to Central Government Employees and Pensioners.

"The decision to freeze three instalments of Dearness Allowance (DA)/Dearness Relief (DR) to Central Government e...