State govt announces ad-hoc bonus, festival advance for employees

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government on Tuesday announced the ad-hoc bonus and festival advance for state government employees ahead of Eid and Durga Puja. Two notifications in this regard were issued by the state Finance department.

According to the memorandum, employees who are not covered by any productivity linked bonus scheme and those whose revised emoluments do not exceed Rs 30,000 per month, will be entitled to an ad-hoc bonus of Rs 4,000 per head, which is Rs 400 higher than last year.

State government employees in the income bracket of Rs 30,000 to Rs 36,000 per month will be eligible for an interest-free festival advance up to a maximum of Rs 8,000, which is Rs 3,000 more than the previous year.

Sources at Nabanna said the move will benefit nearly 10 lakh state government employees. The benefit would be given to Muslim employees before Eid and the rest would get it between September 23 and October 1 before Durga Puja.

In the grant of ad-hoc bonus as well as interest-free festival advance, the state Finance department has laid down separate detailed terms and conditions for the perusal of the beneficiaries.

A senior official in the state Finance department said that after the Trinamool Congress government came to power in 2011, the ad-hoc bonus and advance amounts were raised by Rs 200 and Rs 500 respectively. However, this year has seen a more substantial hike. "The move has been made despite the government's severe financial crunch," he added.