Agartala, Mar 16 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Monday declared a 5 per cent hike in dearness allowance for state government employees, taking the total DA to 41 per cent.

Shortly after Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy ended his budget speech, Saha announced that the hike will be applicable from April 1 for government employees and pensioners.

The chief minister said 1,02,563 regular employees and 81,019 pensioners will get the DA benefits.

“The government will spend an additional Rs 500 crore annually to provide 5 per cent DA to the government workforce. We are continuously trying to increase the DA for the employees to narrow the gap with their central government counterparts,” he said.

At present, the Centre provides 58 per cent DA to government employees.

Meanwhile, senior Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman criticised the CM for announcing the DA hike after the finance minister's budget speech.

“We are happy that the government declared a 5 per cent hike in DA for employees, but the way the chief minister made the announcement is against the spirit of assembly proceedings. The finance minister could have mentioned it in his budget speech,” he said.

Responding to a question, Pranajit Singha Roy said around Rs 15,000 crore will be spent to meet salaries and pension out of a total budget of Rs 34,212.31 crore for 2026-27. PTI PS RBT

Dearness allowance increase raises state allowance level effective April for government employees and pensioners with fiscal implications. Tripura raised state dearness allowance to 41 per cent for government employees and pensioners, effective April 1, covering 1,02,563 regular employees and 81,019 pensioners, with an estimated additional recurring annual cost of about Rs 500 crore; the move aims to narrow the gap with central DA levels and was announced by the Chief Minister immediately after the finance minister's budget speech.