Government employees have a reason to smile as the Union Government is working to release salary arrears by the middle of next month, putting additional burden of about Rs 17,500 crore on the government exchequer. However, there is no confirmation regarding date of release of salaries under second installment, in the memorandum issued by Union Finance Ministry on Monday.

Pensioners will also get their arrears are part of the Sixth Pay Commission awards, most probably, before the coming festival season. Government has already made employee-wise individual calculations to release pending dues within a few weeks. Employees can also deposit their arrears in their GPF account if they wish to do so.

The memorandum said: "The first installment (40% of the total arrears) has already been paid in 2008-09. It has now been decided that the remaining 60% of arrears may now be paid to the concerned government servants."

Government employees who joined service after January 1, 2004, are required to submit individual application forms for registration to the new pension scheme, to get their arrears.

The Union Cabinet has already approved the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission, implementing new pay scale from January 1, 2006.