Left govt in Tripura hiking salaries to corner BJP ahead of 2018 elections

The Left government in Tripura has decided to increase the salary and pension of its employees and retired officers in order to checkmate rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has promised a hike if voted to power in 2018.

State government employees are stuck with the 4th pay panel scale of the late 1980s though their salaries were last revised in 2009.

State finance minister Bhanulal Saha announced the decision to implement the recommendations by a three-member Pay and Pension Revision Committee headed by former chief secretary GK Rao.

The new pay scale will come into effect from April 1 this year. This means 176,973 government employees and 57,688 pensioners will see their take-home increase for the first time in eight years.

The BJP sniffed an opportunity and worked on their resentment in the hope of taking Tripura after winning Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur elections.

Party president Amit Shah made the party’s strategy clear when he promised 7th Central Pay Scale to Tripura government employees during a rally at Kumarghat on May 7.

A week later, the BJP’s state unit launched a signature campaign for government employees and their dependants with the credo — “help us win, get huge pay hike”.

More than two lakh people turned up for the campaign.

THE NEW PAY SCALE WILL COME INTO EFFECT FROM APRIL 1 THIS YEAR. THIS MEANS 176,973 GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AND 57,688 PENSIONERS WILL SEE THEIR TAKEHOME INCREASE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN EIGHT YEARS