In what is a piece of good news for public servants and government budgetary agencies, the Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) and Travel Allowance (TA) for the in-country travel and training will be normalized from January. It is in accordance with the Pay Revision Act, 2019.
Finance Minister Namgay Tshering shared this on his official Facebook page on Tuesday.
According to the notification, for officials on COVID-19 related duties requiring continuous stay beyond six months, a lump sum allowance of Nu.15,000 per month will be paid, irrespective of position levels.
For official travels and in-house training, including workshops, seminars, retreats, and conferences among others with food and lodging, 50 percent of the daily allowance will be provided. Likewise for those without food and lodging, a full DSA of Nu.2000 per day will be paid.
However, only 50 percent of the DSA will be applicable to the participants from the same place of posting.
The notification also stated that hereon, all official seminars, workshops, retreats, and conferences will be held in hotels registered with the Department of National Properties.
Meanwhile, the minister also announced that the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) will also be paid beginning the third quarter of the financial year, which is from January till March.
With a deficit in the recurrent budget, the Finance Ministry deferred benefits like LTC and transfer benefits for civil servants towards the end of this year as a temporary measure to recover the budget.
Sonam Pem
