Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday (September 4, 2024) said the government intends to utilise the State’s financial resources judiciously by mapping expenditures with receipts, and against this backdrop, it has decided to pay government employees their salaries on the fifth and pensions of retirees on the 10th of every month.
In a statement during the ongoing session of the State Assembly, Mr. Sukhu said, “The key reason for paying salary and pension on the fifth and 10th respectively, instead of the first of every month is that our government wants to use the financial resources judiciously by mapping the expenditure with receipts, which shows the efficient financial management of our government.”
He was replying on the issue of delayed salaries raised by the Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Jai Ram Thakur in the House.
“The state government has to pay salary and pension on the first of every month, while the ₹520 crore revenue deficit grant (RDG) is received on the sixth of every month, and ₹740 crore share inc central taxes on 10 of every month from the government of India. For the payment of salary and pension on the first date, the State government is forced to bear the burden of unnecessary interest by taking an advance loan from the market at the rate of about 7.50%,” he said. “By this arrangement (changing the salary/pension dates) we have tried to save the interest amount on the loan taken by the State government,” he added.
The Chief Minister said the effort of the government by mapping of expenditure with revenue to save money being paid as interest on loans is a step towards achieving fiscal prudence. “The government would save an amount of about ₹3 crore every month by deferring the payment of salaries and pensions,” he said.
Mr. Sukhu said the provision would not be applicable to employees and pensioner government boards and corporations.
Published - September 04, 2024 07:32 pm IST
