Shimla, 04 September: Salary and pension did not reach the bank accounts of employees and pensioners in Himachal Pradesh even on 4th September. This issue was raised in the monsoon session of the state assembly on Wednesday. The opposition party BJP surrounded the ruling Congress government on this issue and alleged that there is an economic crisis in the state and employees and pensioners are yearning for salary and pension. On this, the leader of the house and Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, while making a statement in the house, has announced that the employees of the state will get salary on 5th and pensioners on 10th this month.
The Chief Minister clarified that the main reason for giving salary and pension on 5th and 10th instead of 1st is that the state government wants to use the financial resources judiciously by mapping the expenditure with the receipts. The Chief Minister said that the state government has to pay salary and pension on the first of every month, while the state’s share of the amount from the central government comes later. An amount of 520 crores is received from the central government as revenue defer grant on the 6th and a share of 740 crores in central taxes is received on the 10th.
The Chief Minister further said that to pay salary and pension to the employees on the first of every month, the state government has to bear the burden of interest unnecessarily by taking advance loan from the market at the rate of about seven and a half percent. Sukhu said that the state government has to take loan to pay salary and pension on the first of every month, on which interest of three crores has to be paid every month. In this way, by mapping the expenditure with the receipt, the government will save an amount of about three crore rupees every month. The Chief Minister informed the House that every month in the state, 1200 crores are spent on the salary of the employees and 800 crores on pension. In this way, an expenditure of two thousand crore rupees per month comes on salary-pension.
He also said that this arrangement has been made for salary and pension for this month and in the coming month, an attempt will be made to pay salary-pension on the first date. The Chief Minister said that this arrangement will not be applicable on government boards and corporations. They can take their own decision on salary and pension payment by assessing their resources. The Chief Minister also disclosed that on the basis of permission received from the central government, an outstanding amount of Rs 2317 crore is left for raising loan from the market, which the state government will have to use judiciously for the next four months i.e. from September to December.
The former BJP government spoiled the financial balance of the state
The Chief Minister said that the former BJP government is responsible for these financial conditions in the state. The previous government distributed freebies just before the elections, due to which the financial balance of the state deteriorated. He said that the present government is working towards financial discipline and more tough decisions will be taken to improve the economy in the coming months. The Chief Minister said that due to the steps being taken by the state government, Himachal Pradesh will become self-reliant in the year 2026 and will become the richest state of the country in the year 2032.
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