In a major administrative decision aimed at resolving a long-pending grievance of government staff, the Tripura Government on Monday approved regular status for more than 13,082 employees who were granted one-time ad-hoc promotions in 2021. The move ensures that these employees—including those who have already retired—will now receive full financial and service-related benefits based on their higher posts. The announcement was made by Cabinet spokesperson Sushanta Chowdhury after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manik Saha. Chowdhury said the decision followed months of deliberation and came in response to widespread demands from employees whose promotions had been stalled in terms of benefits due to a pending court matter.
According to officials, the government had promoted over 13,000 employees across various departments on an ad-hoc basis soon after the formation of the new administration in 2018. However, many of these promotions could not be regularised because a Special Leave Petition (SLP) concerning the issue remains under consideration before the Supreme Court. As a result, employees continued to receive salaries, pensions, and perks based on their previous posts despite serving in higher positions. Chowdhury highlighted the hardship caused by the delay, noting that many retirees were unable to draw pensionary benefits matching their promoted posts. “For example, a Deputy Director who was promoted on an ad-hoc basis to Joint Director but retired thereafter continued to receive pension only for the Deputy Director post. This has been a long-standing issue affecting thousands of families,” he said.
To resolve the matter, the state government had constituted a high-level committee headed by former Tripura High Court judge Justice Arindam Lodh. The committee conducted a detailed review and submitted its recommendations earlier this year.
