Agartala, October 6: The Tripura government on Tuesday announced a three per cent hike in dearness allowance and dearness relief (DA-DR) for state government employees and pensioners, taking the total rate to 44 per cent of basic pay.
Chief Minister Manik Saha announced the decision at a press conference at the state secretariat and said the revised DA-DR would be effective from October 1.
The increase will impose an additional annual financial burden of around Rs 300 crore on the state exchequer, Saha said.
“With this increase, the gap between the DA-DR of state government employees and their counterparts under the Centre will come down to 16 per cent,” he said.
The government also enhanced the house rent allowance (HRA) for regular employees from 8 per cent to 10 per cent of basic pay, with effect from October 1.
The revised HRA will entail an additional annual expenditure of Rs 141.96 crore. The maximum HRA ceiling has also been raised from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000, the chief minister said.
Saha said his government had taken several measures since 2018 to improve the financial and service-related benefits of government employees.
The fitment factor was increased from 2.25 to 2.57, resulting in an increase of around 14.22 per cent in basic pay, he said.
The DA-DR has also been revised at different stages and has increased by 38 per cent since 2022, Saha said.
The chief minister said the government would continue to consider measures for employees while taking into account the state’s financial position.
On the proposed Eighth Pay Commission, Saha said the state had decided to constitute a pay commission and would take further steps after balancing employees’ interests with the state’s financial capacity.
The government has also amended provisions relating to earned leave. Employees with more than 285 days but up to 300 days of accumulated earned leave will now be allowed to preserve the next 15 days separately as advance leave, he said.
Saha said the Promotion Policy, 2021, was introduced to address long-pending promotion-related issues and facilitate ad hoc promotions.
Under conditions laid down in a December 1, 2025 decision, employees receiving ad hoc promotions under the policy will have their service and retirement benefits counted, wherever applicable, as in the case of regular promotion from the relevant date, he said.
The chief minister also highlighted the provision of 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs and steps taken to streamline the die-in-harness system.
Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy was present at the press conference.
