New Delhi: In a major decision to boost tourism in the scenic north eastern region, the Centre has relaxed Leave Travel Concession (LTC) Rules for its employees permitting them to travel by air.

The new rules will apply to employees irrespective of their grade or post and the order will be in operation for two years, sources in the Ministry of Personnel said.

Under the revised rules, Group A and B Central Government employees will be entitled to travel by air from their place of posting or nearest airport to a city in the north eastern region.

Employees belonging to other categories will be entitled to travel by air to a city in the north eastern region from Guwahati or Kolkata.

All Central Government servants would be allowed conversion of one block of Home Town LTC into LTC for destinations in the north eastern region, the order said.

The Ministry said that data regarding the number of employees availing LTC to the north eastern region would be maintained.

The decision will enable government servants in the junior grades to visit the northeastern region, which used to remain a distant dream for them because of high air travel costs and absence of official entitlement.

The north eastern region comprises Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and also Sikkim -- all having rich tourism potential.
Source : PTI