By Special Correspondent
Bhopal: Sudhir Nayak, President of the Mantralaya Service Officers and Employees Association, has urged the Madhya Pradesh government to increase both the festival and grain advances from ₹4,000 to ₹10,000. He also demanded that the eligibility criteria be expanded to include all Class III and Class IV employees, along with contractual, permanent, and outsourced staff.
Nayak stated that the move would not impose any additional financial burden on the government since the advance amounts are recovered from employees’ salaries in ten instalments with interest. He added that the interest collected could serve as a source of revenue for the state.
Highlighting that the last revision was made in 2011, Nayak said Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had earlier taken employee-friendly decisions regarding allowances, for which the association expressed gratitude. He argued that revising the advance limits would benefit low-income staff, increase government revenue through interest, and boost market demand—thereby supporting small traders.
He also proposed creating a separate fund from the interest earned on advances to make the scheme self-sustaining in the future, reducing the need for dedicated budget allocations.
