Tripura Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma on Tuesday presented a deficit-free budget of ₹16,387.21 crore for the 2018-19 fiscal.
The budget outlay for the current fiscal has seen an increase of around 14%. Cess on petrol (₹1.15), diesel (₹1.13) and PNG (₹4.4 per month) has been proposed for road development in the State, Mr. Varma said on the first day of the budget session of the Assembly.
Mr. Varma, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said the State government is committed to provide the 7th Central Pay Commission scales to government employees.
“An estimated outlay of ₹1,000 crore has been provisioned in the budget so that the government could offer the 7th CPC pay to the two lakh government employees and pensioners once the P.P. Verma Committee submitted its report,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister also announced that the Tripura government wants to implement a new pension policy for those who will join government service from July 1, 2018.
“The move to introduce new pension for newcomers is aimed at reducing the State’s burden on pension head,” he said.
He said the first budget of the BJP-IPFT government in Tripura is designed to boost infrastructure and industry, and development of the crucial health and education sectors.
Among other announcements, he said four new B.Ed colleges would be set up to provide pre-service training to teachers, and Tripura Infrastructure and Investment Fund Board would be constituted to boost industrialisation.
