According to two people familiar with the situation, the finance ministry turned down a request from pensioners to release three instalments of dearness relief (DR) held back during the peak days of the Covid-19 pandemic as part of the government's expenditure control measures to fund urgent relief work.
On the condition of anonymity, they stated that the total sum of DR (for pensioners) and dearness allowance (DA) meant for central government employees was anticipated to be over 34,000 crores. DA and DR are paid to compensate for rising living costs and to safeguard basic pay and pensions from erosion due to inflation.