In a significant move aimed at improving the service condition of the IAS officers in the state, the West Bengal government has announced a range of welfare and service benefits for them in this festive season. The IAS officers of the state will now be able to travel abroad once during a specified four-year period in countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Dubai, Mauritius and several Southeast Asian countries. The only hitch is they will have to replace either their hometown or All India Leave Travel Concession (LTC).
The state’s Personnel and Administrative Reforms department recently issued a notification detailing new provisions.
According to it, the officers will now be allowed to get up to Rs 60,000 per month as House Rent Allowance (HRA) reimbursement and hospitality allowances of up to Rs 80,000. They will also be eligible for loans of up to Rs 50 lakh for pursuing higher education abroad.
The state govt has taken special care of newly appointed IAS officers, as they will be provided with laptops or desktops, along with printers, worth up to Rs 2 lakh at the time of joining.
The notification says that IAS officers who are not allotted government accommodation and do not take House Rent Allowance (HRA) will be entitled to seek reimbursement of house rent up to Rs 60,000 per month.
This amount will be revised every three years with a 20 percent increase. Similarly, the hospitality allowance has also been revised, according to which officers below the rank of Secretary will receive Rs 15,000 per month, while Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and Additional Chief Secretaries will be entitled to allowances ranging from Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000.
The new provisions also include educational loans for overseas studies. IAS officers can avail themselves of loans of up to Rs 50 lakh to meet expenses related to postgraduate education, boarding school fees, and foreign travel.
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