Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday announced an additional 3 per cent dearness allowance (DA) for government employees and pensioners.

Making the announcement in the assembly, he said it was a Durga Puja gift.

"The government, despite resource constraints, has decided to release an additional 3 per cent DA for employees and DR (dearness relief) for pensioners with effect from October 1," he said.

Saha said 1,05,739 employees and 84,342 pensioners will benefit from the hike, for which the government will bear an additional burden of Rs 125 crore for the remaining months of the current fiscal.

With this hike, Tripura government employees will get 36 per cent DA. In comparison, central employees get 52 per cent DA.

Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said the BJP government has taken a host of measures for the welfare of state employees.

"After assuming power in 2018, we revised the fitment factor from 2.25 to 2.57. After this reform, the basic pay of the state government employees reached the level recommended in the 7th Central Pay Commission," he said.

"The revision translated into a 14.22 per cent hike in basic pay. This increase has benefitted employees every time the DA was enhanced," he said in response to a query from Congress MLA Gopal Chandra Roy.