By IANS,
Agartala : A year ahead of the crucial assembly polls in the lone Left ruled state, the Tripura government Monday announced to increase the retirement age of the state government employees from present 58 years to 60.
In another sop to the unemployed youths, the upper age limit for getting the government jobs has also increased from existing 37 years to 40.
Presenting the budget, state Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury also said that the Left Front government would not follow the new pension scheme (NPS) as it would affect the retired government employees.
The NPS with defined contribution of both the employees and the employeers, introduced by the central government since April 2004, is against the interest of the retiring employees, he said.
The finance minister also announced various welfare measures and schemes in the budget.
They include need based recruitment in government services, increase of gender specific budget from Rs. 304 crore to Rs.337 crore, and one week paternity leave to the government employees at the time of delivery of the child limited to the first two children.
Amidst pandemonium by the opposition Congress members, Chowdhury presented a tax-free Rs.8119 crore budget with a deficit of Rs.149.33 crore for the next fiscal (2012-13). The deficit in the current year’s budget was Rs 246.58 crore.
Chowdhury, also a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) central committee, has presented the state budget in the assembly as state finance minister for record 15 times.