Sarkaari naukari in Punjab may soon lose some of its charm. For, the Punjab Government is considering the possibility of curtailing the expenditure on salaries and pensions following revelations that the State exchequer is burdened more by the wages of Government employees than power subsidy.
For that, the State Government is also considering to do away with the Punjab Pay Commission. Under attack by the Opposition for worsening economy for political gains by providing power subsidy to the farmers, Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa on Monday made it clear that it was, in fact, the “committed expenditure” including the salaries and pensions which are big reason for increasing expenditure, “but not power subsidy”.
Dhindsa, while concluding the debate on the budget estimates for 2013-14, said that the State either needs to cut down expenditure or increase the revenue for reducing the fiscal deficit.
Comparing the State’s power subsidy and expenditure on wages with the neighbouring Haryana, Dhindsa said, “Punjab gives power subsidy to the tune of Rs5,785 crore, while Haryana spends Rs5,129 crore for the purpose, which is around Rs650 crore more. On the other hand, whereas Punjab is incurring expenditure of Rs22,465 crore on salaries, Haryana spends Rs14,632 crore — a difference of Rs7,800 crore, which is too big.”
Dhindsa added that the salaries of the Government employees were increased after the implementation of the recommendations of the fifth Punjab Pay Commission, in addition to lifting ban on recruiting Government employees.
“We are already paying higher salaries as compared to other States in the country as we implement the recommendations of our Pay Commission, which usually recommend five to seven per cent more raise in our salaries than what the central pay commission recommends. If we implement Centre’s Pay Commission, our expenditure would come down,” Dhindsa said, while talking to The Pioneer.
“We have discussed at length and have taken up the issue with deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal regarding discontinuing with the practice of our own Pay Commission. But no decision as such has been taken as yet,” he added.
Punjab’s estimated revenue collection for the current fiscal year is Rs28,524 crore, out of which Rs20,750 crore is to be spent on wages and pension. “Every year, the expenditure on wages and pension is increasing on an average of 18 per cent, we want to bring it down to 10 per cent,” said Dhindsa.
Dhindsa added that the State is studying the recruitment models of other States. “We are considering giving lump-sum amount of salary to the newly recruited Government employees for the first three-five months, and then regularising them,” added the Finance Minister.