Amidst growing concern about Himachal Pradesh’s financial condition, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Wednesday that delaying the payment of salaries and pensions to government employees and pensioners until the fifth tenth of every month, respectively, would help save the state Rs 36 crore annually. He said this measure was necessary to avoid taking out short-term loans to release salaries on the first day of every month.
Replying to the Opposition, which has been raking up the issue of delay in the disbursement of salaries and pensions in the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Legislative Assembly, CM Sukhu said, “The state government receives many grants from the central government on due dates. For instance, Rs 520 crore Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) is received on the 6th day of a month and Rs 740 crore share in central taxes is received on the 10th day of every month.”
“To release the total salary of Rs 1,200 crore and pension of Rs 800 crore, our state government takes loans from many sources at the rate of 7 per cent. We conclude that if we release the salary and pension on the fifth and tenth day of every month, our government does not need to bear the interests of Rs 36 crore annually,” he added.
He also said that for the current month, the salaries of government employees and pensioners will be credited to their accounts on September 5 and September 10, respectively. He told the house that the government will again consider this decision on September 28 in view of salary disbursal in the coming months.
During the ongoing Monsoon Session, the Opposition had staged multiple walkouts, one of which was due to the denial of an adjournment motion to discuss the state’s financial position. On Monday, the Opposition submitted a motion of no confidence against Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania.
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