Thiruvananthapuram: Government employees and pensioners in Kerala are facing major financial losses after the state government denied them pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears. Each employee stands to lose several lakhs as a result.

Those in the lowest pay scale, such as office assistants, have lost around Rs 1.27 lakh due to 187 months of arrears. Meanwhile, those in the highest positions, including chief engineers and special secretaries in the Secretariat, face losses of up to Rs 9.25 lakh.

Pensioners have also been affected, losing arrears equivalent to 190 months of pension payments. Earlier, DA arrears were directly paid to pensioners, while the same was merged into the provident fund for employees.

However, after coming to power in 2021, the government indefinitely postponed the DA announcement, citing a financial crisis.

Currently, the government still owes 13 per cent of DA arrears. Although the Cabinet last week approved a four per cent hike with retrospective effect, the Finance Department intervened and withheld the arrears payment. The development was reported by Mathrubhumi on Friday.

The current pay revision came into effect in February 2021, and so far, DA hikes from January 2021 to January 2023 have been sanctioned.