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| Let Govt.pay arrears in 10 instalments | | |
For the last eight months the Government employees in Jammu and Kashmir are agitated over the delay on the part of ruling coalition in releasing the arrears of the 6th pay commission report,which stands implemented since August 2009.When the Government constituted a cabinet subcommittee,headed by the Finance Minister,Abdul Rahim Rather,to hold discussions with the representatives of the Employees union in 2009 a solution was hammered out of the meetings between the cabinet subcommittee membners and the employees union leaders.Under the agreement the
Government was to implement the 6th pay commission recommendations from August 2009.This was done to the satisfaction of the employees.It was a major decision for which the state Government received financial support from the centre.During the confabulations between the leaders of employees unions and the members of the cabinet subcommittee the union leaders had accepted the Government decision to release the arrears of the pay revision in five instalments.The second part of the agreement has not been implemented so far.Employees have intensified their agitation and for five days work remained totally paralysed.Government estimates put the loss owing to the five-day strike at several several hundred crores of rupees.Well both sides have their stories to tell and the plot of the stories is not based on fiction.While the employees want their due,the state Government has its hands tied because of severe financial crunch.While the employees want the
agreement to be honoured in letter and spirt the Government says it is not against the implementation of the agreement.The state Government has a point when it says that it needs over Rs.4100 for clearing the arrears of the revised pay grades.One cabinet minister said the annual plan allocations are Rs.6,000 crores and for cleraring the pay commission arrears the Government requires Rs.4100 crores.He says the burden has been unbearable when the Government has to spend Rs.1067 crores on the salaries of the employees and another Rs.1495 crores on pensions.What is strange is that when the Government in general and the Finance Minister,Rather,in particular promised the employees,nearly eight months ago,that they will receive the arrears in five instalments the Government had not expected any windfall or the centre to reimburse the expenses in full on clearing the arrears.Eight months ago the Government was supposed to deliberate on the matter.Possibly the
state Government had thought that the centre would bail it out.Yes the centre has been releasing liberal financial assistance to Jammu and Kashmir.But the central funds for usually meant for various development projects.In addition to this nearly 80 per cent of the expenses on the wage bill of the employees is met from the central financial assistance.Again possibly the Government had opted for a safe course to prevent employees from going on indefinite strike.If that was the case it was bad policy and politics.On one hand the Government talks about financial stringency and on the other supported a constitutional measure under which the monthly salaries of legislators and ministers were suitably hiked.The Government talks of financial crunch and on the other hand there are cases of wasteful expenses on the luxuries of ministers and senior bureaucrats who have been found spending lavishly on petrol,telephone and electricity consumption.The Government
has been spending crores of rupees on renovation of ministerial bunglows.If the Government is serious about finding a solution to the impasse it has to resort to severe auterity measures for raising money required for clearing the pay arrears of its employees.Another wayout is that it should persuade the employees to abandon the path of agitation if the arrears were cleared in 10 instead of promised five instalments |
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