By Firstdespatch Desk Dec 27, 2022
Agartala, Dec 27 (FD) Months ahead of the assembly elections Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday declared a 12 per cent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for state government employees and pensioners with effect from December 1.
Now the employees of the state government employees' enjoy 20% DA as it shot up from 8 per cent to 20 per cent.
"A total of 1,04,600 regular employees and 80,800 pensioners will benefit from the decision. Besides, part-time employees will receive the benefit as their remunerations have been almost doubled", Saha said at a press conference.
The chief minister said the decision of the government to increase the DA/DR by 12 per cent will put an additional amount of Rs 120 crore per month and Rs 1,440 crore per annum.
Saha said, "We always think for welfare of the employees despite limited resources. This government immediately after coming to power has revised the salary structures to give benefit to the lakhs of employees and their families".
Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Deb Varma, who holds the Finance portfolio, said the opposition political parties were repeatedly criticizing our government and our party for not increasing DA for government employees and social pension to the beneficiaries.
"We want sab ka sath sabka vikash. Our government aims at maximum benefit to the maximum people. We want to set a standard for state government employees by taking the courageous step", he said.
Replying to a question about how the additional burden of Rs 1,440 crore annually will be managed, Deb Varma said, "We know the art of managing finance effectively even as the resource constraint is acute. A bit of courage and a broad heart are needed to give maximum benefit to the people".
When asked it it would be viewed as New Year bonanza or poll bonanza, Debbarma said "It is the perception of the people how they look at it. We did our job". FD JK