In a major decision that brings relief to thousands of government employees, the BJP-led administration in Tripura has announced it will treat pension benefits for staff who received ad hoc promotions in 2021 as regular payments. This move affects approximately 13,082 employees across various state departments.
Cabinet Approves Pension Regularisation
The state cabinet, during a meeting on Monday, resolved to regularise post-retirement financial benefits for employees who had been given one-time ad hoc promotions four years ago. The decision was announced by Tourism and Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury, who also serves as the cabinet spokesperson.
The minister clarified that the regularization would be subject to the final outcome of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) currently pending before the Supreme Court. He stated that the government would inform the apex court about their decision and would abide by whatever judgment the court delivers.
Background of the Promotion Deadlock
Promotions for government employees in Tripura had been completely halted since 2015 due to an ongoing legal case before the Supreme Court. The peculiar situation arose because no new vacancies were being created at entry-level positions, which consequently prevented promotions to senior positions as well.
This created an administrative crisis where senior positions across various departments remained vacant despite qualified employees being available for promotion. To address this impasse and ensure smooth government functioning, the current administration introduced the one-time ad hoc promotion policy in 2021.
Committee Recommendations and Implementation
The cabinet carefully examined the issue and formed a committee headed by retired high court judge Justice Arindam Lodh to study the matter in depth. Based on the committee's recommendations, the government decided to proceed with pension regularization.
Prior to this decision, employees who retired after receiving ad hoc promotions were only receiving post-retirement benefits corresponding to their pre-promotion positions. This meant they weren't getting the full financial benefits they would have received if their promotions had been regular from the beginning.
According to data provided by Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy earlier this year, a staggering 31,056 posts across Group A, B, C and D categories became vacant between 2018-19 and 2024-25 due to retirements. The breakdown shows 3,829 vacancies in 2018-19, 4,596 in 2019-20, 4,412 in 2020-21, 4,342 in 2021-22, 4,678 in 2022-23, 4,604 in 2023-24, and 4,595 in 2024-25.
Among these vacancies, 6,779 positions were in Group D category, while the majority of positions in Group A, B and C categories were senior-level posts that can only be filled through promotions. This highlights the scale of the administrative challenge the state government has been facing.
The finance minister had earlier explained that the ad hoc promotion policy introduced in 2021 was necessary to break the deadlock that had persisted since 2015. With no new entry-level vacancies being created, the entire promotion pipeline had frozen, leaving senior positions vacant despite having eligible candidates.
The current decision to regularise pensions represents a significant step toward resolving long-standing issues affecting government employees' career progression and post-retirement security in Tripura.
