Calcutta, Dec. 29: The government today announced the release of an instalment of dearness allowance (DA) equivalent to 4 per cent of basic pay for its employees, teachers and non-teaching staff members of educational institutions, employees of public undertakings and local bodies.

It will come into effect from January 1 and would benefit over 10 lakh employees, finance minister Asim Dasgupta said. There will also be a corresponding increase in benefits for some 400,000 pensioners.