PAY PANEL ROLL-OUT MAY GET DELAYED

Government may issue an order to implement recommendations by February-end

the State government employees, teachers and pensioners are unlikely to get the benefits of the Tenth Pay Revision Commission recommendations in the current financial year.

Given the precarious fiscal position of the government, they may have to wait till mid-2016 to get the full complement of the benefits as recommended by the commission.

The government may issue an order to implement the recommendations by February-end and would either defer or slacken the procedures for disbursing the benefits till the Assembly elections are over.

According to Finance Department sources, resource realisation initiatives during the previous and current years were far below the estimated levels and the Rs.8,800-crore mobilised by floating bonds 10 times between April and December, including twice in April and November, citing development purposes, was largely utilised for meeting the routine expenditure. Little had been done so far to address and tone up the declining Plan resource realisation process, sources said.

Financial burden

Though not at one go, the overall financial burden for implementing the recommendations has been pegged at Rs.7,700 crore. Considering the other major commitments which the government has to honour, including the clearance of arrears due to contractors, the onus for disbursing the benefits would be passed on to the next government, sources said.

In the absence of a realistic Plan resource assessment, the State’s fiscal situation is likely to worsen in the coming months and may even lead to a crisis similar to the one which erupted between 1997-98 and 2003-04. Though the government would not have to mobilise resources to the tune of Rs.7,700 crore initially to meet the pay revision commitment, the present situation does not give the leeway even to bear a minor fiscal shock. The political uncertainty and the alleged failure in pursuing the resource mobilisation and austerity measures proposed by the Cabinet anticipating a crisis earlier are being pointed out as the main reasons which compounded the crisis.

The Cabinet sub-committee constituted for reviewing the impact on implementing the reforms had met recently, but no final decision had been made, sources said.

Moreover, the pay commission has not submitted its second report too.

Government may defer or slacken procedures for disbursing
benefits till Assembly
elections are over.