Around 2,000 Bru families, who were rehabilitated in Tripura’s Dhalai, as part of a deal three years ago, have not been paid monthly stipend for the past year putting them in distress, a leader of the settlers claimed.

In a letter to district magistrate S.S. Jaiswal, Bruhapara settlement area assistant in-charge Karanjoy Reang said, the internally displaced tribal people who had to flee their home state Mizoram due to ethnic conflicts have not received the allowance since October 2022.

A senior state government official said the stipend is given to the Brus by the Centre and the delay could be due to some technical problems.

“The delay in obtaining the monthly cash assistance will put the Bru families in great financial difficulty. In this context, I request you to kindly take the necessary steps to see that they can get cash assistance,” Reang’s letter to the district magistrate read.

According to the agreement, each of a total of 6,953 Bru family is eligible to get a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000 for two years and certain other facilities including a plot of land, Rs 1.5 lakh for constructing a house on it and a one-time allowance of Rs 4 lakh.

The pact was signed by the Brus, the Centre and the Tripura and Mizoram governments in New Delhi in January 2020.