BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 17th March 2026: A heated exchange took place in the Tripura Legislative Assembly on Tuesday during the third day of the session after Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman questioned the government’s announcement of a 5 percent Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) hike for state employees and pensioners.
The confrontation occurred during the Zero Hour, soon after the Question and Answer session, when Roy Barman asked the government to present the cabinet memorandum related to the DA decision. He said this was necessary to confirm whether the 5 percent hike had actually been approved during the cabinet meeting.
Roy Barman stated that a cabinet meeting had taken place before the state budget was presented. However, after reviewing the budget documents, including the “Budget at a Glance” and other expenditure statements, he claimed he found no reference to the proposed DA increase.
He urged the ministers to place the cabinet memorandum before the Assembly to clarify the matter. According to Roy Barman, some officials he spoke to suggested that the DA issue had not been discussed during the cabinet meeting.
The Congress MLA argued that if the matter was not approved by the cabinet, it would amount to misleading the Assembly and undermining the authority of the Council of Ministers.
“We cannot remain silent merely to maintain decorum. It appears the House has been misled. The claim that the issue was discussed in the cabinet is incorrect. Such practices should not take place. I request that the cabinet memorandum be presented before the House. As far as I know, the DA proposal was not approved in the cabinet,” Roy Barman said.
Responding strongly to the allegations, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha rejected the claims and asserted that the cabinet had indeed approved the decision regarding the DA hike and that all required procedures had been followed.
He also clarified that announcements related to DA do not necessarily have to appear directly in the budget documents.
“The decision was taken in the cabinet and the necessary documents will be submitted. There is no direct link between the budget document and the announcement of DA. All legal and procedural rules have been followed. Making such allegations is disrespectful. You often try to create political drama and seem unaware of the rules,” the Chief Minister said.
