AGARTALA: Tripura will spend Rs 47.16 crore on festival grants and Rs 183.77 crore on festival advances for its government employees this year, as the state gears up for Durga Puja.
Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy disclosed the figures at a press conference held at the state secretariat on Wednesday, in the presence of Finance Secretary P.K. Goyal and Additional Secretary Dr. Akinchan Sarkar.
“This year we have increased the festival grant by Rs 300 for every category, and just for this enhancement we are spending more than Rs 6 crore,” Singha Roy said.
He said Group C, Group D and DRW employees will now get Rs 2,400 as festival grant, up from Rs 2,100 last year, while PTWs, contractual workers, Anganwadi workers and helpers, Home Guards, SPOs, and daily rated workers under the Health and GA (SA) departments will get Rs 2,610, up from Rs 2,310. Pump operators under the PWD (DWS) and RD departments will get Rs 1,350, up from Rs 1,050.
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“In 2017-18, the grant was only Rs 700. We have raised it gradually every year since then,” the minister said, adding that around 1,48,501 employees and 85,916 pensioners will benefit from the grant this year.
On the festival advance, Singha Roy said the rates notified in September 2023 remain unchanged, with Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D employees, including DRWs, getting Rs 20,000 each. Anganwadi workers and Home Guards will get Rs 5,000, while ASHA workers will receive Rs 2,000 under the National Health Mission.
“Nearly one lakh employees will benefit from the festival advance this year,” he said, adding that employees will have to apply for it through the NextGen HRMS portal, though no application is needed for the grant itself.
“Puja will begin from the fifteenth or sixteenth, so we have already made arrangements to ensure everyone receives their dues before the festival starts,” Singha Roy said.
