• Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura 

Agartala, August 03, 2022 : Tripura government on Tuesday announced 5 percent Dearness Allowance for all the employees in services and retired employees despite paucity of funds; as informed by the Cabinet Spokesperson and Information & Cultural Affairs (ICA) minister Sushanta Chowdhury.

In a press conference at Civil Secretariat here in Agartala city on Tuesday evening, Chowdhury said “The council of ministers under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha in a meeting took decision that 5 percent of Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) for government employees and retired employees with effect from July 01, 2022.”

“The government is undergoing serious financial constraints and still in the queue to recover from the adverse effects of the pandemic. However, the government will have to bear Rs 523.82 crore as annual expenditure for providing 5 percent DA and DR every year. The government needs funds of Rs 104.76 crore for providing 1 percent DA”, he added.

The Minister said “The fixed salary employees will also get this benefit. A large number of government employees and retired employees will be benefitted from this strong decision of the state government.”

Being asked about the gap of DA between central and state employees, the Cabinet spokesperson said “33 percent DA is being received by the central government employees. The state government is trying its best to minimize the gap as soon as possible.”

Notably, after the formation of the BJP-led coalition government in Tripura, 3 percent of DA was announced and now, more 5 percent DA has been given. “I cannot assure the government employees, but the possibilities are high that the announcement of another hike in DA is likely to be made at the end of this year.”