AGARTALA: Sticking to its poll promise, the BJP-IPFT government on Tuesday announced the implementation of 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations for its employees in its first budget "The state government will implement the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission soon, for which an amount of Rs 1,000 crore has been set aside in the budget outlay," said deputy chief minister Jishnu Dev Varma, who also holds the finance portfolio, on the first day of the budget session. He also announced a new pension policy for employees who join government services from July this year.The budget also announced the government will distribute free smartphones to undergraduate students in government colleges, as it had promised in the run-up to the assembly campaign.The deficit-free budget for the 2018-19 financial year projected an increase in the state's revenue to 16.42% from 13%. The budget outlay, at Rs 16,387.21 crore, has been increased by about 14% in comparison to the last budget.The government has proposed a Tripura Infrastructure and Investment Fund Board for raising funds for large infrastructure projects from the private sector.This year, the budget indicates some capital deficit but also projects a surplus in revenue. "The collection of the state's own tax revenue is projected at Rs 1,709 crore while non-tax revenue collection is projected at Rs 281.36 crore, with a growth of 40.68%. The share of central taxes is projected at Rs 5,747 crore," Dev Varma said.The budget proposes an increase in sales tax and a 1-2% cess on the turnover on petrol, diesel and pipeline gas, besides a marginal increase in road tax imposed on all vehicles except auto rickshaws.To encourage clean energy use, the Tripura government has exempted taxation on all electric vehicles. Tripura has one of the lowest tax regimes on petrol, diesel and gas in the country and the revised tax policy for them would support the state government to invest more on road safety and development, he stated.The budget also announced several provisions for the education sector, setting aside the highest allocation for it - 22.54%. Four more BEd colleges, including one exclusively for girls, will be set up this year. A new scheme, Mukhyamantri Pratibhashali Puraskar, will encourage meritorious youths in the fields of education, sports and culture. To encourage more children to come to school, the budget has made provisions to install and maintain LPG connections in all schools with more than 50 students, so that midday meals can be cooked. Besides, the top five students in Madhyamik and Higher Secondary will be awarded tablets and computers.

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