Agartala, Aug 13: The Tripura government has moved to address long-standing pay disparities among state government employees arising from the implementation of the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPS), particularly cases where senior employees ended up drawing less salary than their juniors.

The decision was taken by the state Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday and is expected to provide relief to a large number of employees affected by anomalies linked to the timing of financial upgradation and annual increments, according to a press release from the Finance department.

Under the ROP Rules, 2017, government employees are entitled to financial upgradation under MACPS after completing 10, 17 and 25 years of continuous and satisfactory service without promotion.

According to the Finance Department, anomalies arose in certain cases where employees received MACP benefits between January 2 and July 1. As a result, their Date of Next Increment (DNI) was shifted to January 1 of the following year. This could lead to situations where a senior employee received a lower salary than a junior who had received financial upgradation at a different point in the increment cycle.

The government had earlier issued a memorandum on September 30, 2023, allowing affected employees whose DNI had been deferred to January 1 to exercise an option to have their MACP benefits fixed on the date of their next increment. However, the option was subject to a deadline of October 31, 2023.

The Finance Department said the stipulated deadline left some employees unable to exercise the option within the prescribed period, resulting in pay disparities continuing in certain cases.

In a move to resolve the issue, the Cabinet has now decided to withdraw the October 31, 2023 deadline for exercising the option for pay fixation under MACPS on the date of the next increment.

The benefit will also be extended to employees who could not exercise the option earlier for any reason due to the previously prescribed deadline.

The government expects the decision to help rectify pay anomalies and ensure greater parity in pay between senior and junior employees affected by the MACPS-related fixation provisions.