Tripura hikes festival grant, interest-free advance ahead of Durga Puja; Rs 47.16 crore allocated

The Tripura government has increased the Festival Grant and substantially raised the interest-free Festival Advance for government employees, workers, pensioners and other eligible beneficiaries ahead of Durga Puja.

Announcing the measures at a press conference at the Civil Secretariat on Wednesday, Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said the government has allocated Rs 47.16 crore for the Festival Grant and around Rs 183.77 crore for the Festival Advance for the financial year 2026-27.

Finance Secretary P.K. Goel and Additional Secretary Dr Achintan Sarkar were also present.

The Festival Grant has been increased by Rs 300 per beneficiary, with around 2,34,417 employees, workers, pensioners and family pensioners expected to benefit.

The beneficiaries include 1,48,531 employees and workers and 85,916 pensioners and family pensioners.

Under the revised rates, Group C and Group D employees, fixed-pay employees, eligible daily-wage workers, pensioners, family pensioners and priests serving government-run temples will receive Rs 2,400, compared with Rs 2,100 last year.

Part-time, contractual and casual workers, Anganwadi workers and helpers, Home Guards and SPOs, eligible daily-wage workers under the Health Department and contractual employees under the DA (SA) Department will receive Rs 2,610, up from Rs 2,310 in 2025-26.

The Festival Grant for part-time and irregular pump operators under PWD (DWS) and part-time pump operators under the RD (Panchayat) Department has also been increased from Rs 1,050 to Rs 1,350.

The government has earmarked an additional Rs 6.14 crore for the enhanced grant.

An eligible beneficiary can avail the Festival Grant for any one of nine designated religious festivals during the financial year. These include Durga Puja, Christmas, Garia Puja, Buddha Purnima, Eid-ul-Zuha, Bengali New Year, Eid-ul-Fitr, Guru Nanak's Birthday and Mahavir Jayanti.

The Finance Minister said beneficiaries would not need to submit an online application to receive the Festival Grant. For employees working under Central government schemes, the respective administrative departments may take a decision on extending the benefit.

Festival advance sees major increase

The government has also significantly increased the interest-free Festival Advance, with around one lakh state government employees and eligible workers expected to benefit.

Under the revised arrangement, regular Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D employees, fixed-pay employees and eligible daily-wage Group C and Group D workers will receive an advance of Rs 20,000.

The earlier advance for these categories ranged between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000.

In another expansion of the scheme, Anganwadi workers and helpers and Home Guards will, for the first time, be eligible for a Rs 5,000 Festival Advance.

ASHA workers receiving remuneration under the National Health Mission will also be eligible for an interest-free advance of Rs 2,000.

The measures have been announced ahead of Durga Puja, one of Tripura's major festivals, with the government expanding financial assistance available to different categories of employees and workers.