Maharashtra has approved payment of dearness allowance (DA) arrears for state government employees under the 5th, 6th and 7th central pay commissions (CPC), amounting to a ₹800 crore total payout, as per reports.
The arrears, pending under the 5th, 6th and 7th CPCs for November and December 2025, and January 2026, will be disbursed along with salaries for May 2026, according to a report by the Free Press Journal.
The order was announced in three separate resolutions by the Maharashtra state Finance Department, as per the report.
Maharashtra approves 2% DR hike for pensioners
Further, the state government has also approved 2% increase in dearness relief (DR) for retired All India Services officers. Individual and family pensioners will receive the revised 60% DA component with effect from 1 January 2026, it added.
Maharashtra makes revised NPS opt-in for employees
Last week, Maharashtra also made its revised National Pension Scheme optional for government employees covered under current NPS, allowing opt-in by year-end. The revised NPS was approved two years back by the Maharashtra cabinet to be implemented for state government employees on the lines of the Centre’s Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).
According to a circular from the state Finance Department, revised NPS for state government employees will be implemented on opt-in basis and will apply only for those who exercise the option within the deadline. Eligible and willing employees make their submission latest by 31 December 2026.
According to the circular, under the revised NPS, employees must deposit 60% of the accumulated corpus received from the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) with the government through the drawing and disbursing officer at the time of retirement.
The remaining 40% of the accumulated fund will be utilised to purchase an annuity, and the annuity amount will be adjusted against the pension payable by the state government.
Employees are allowed early withdrawal from NPS corpus under the revised scheme, but the amount must be refunded with 10% interest, failing which the entitlement will be adjusted accordingly instead.
Further, retirement gratuity will be applicable to those opting for the revised scheme as per earlier orders issued in March 2023.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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