Himachal in deep financial crisis, staff face delay in salary

Tribune News Service

Shimla, september 2

Even as Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu tried hard to dispel concerns about the deepening financial woes of the state, the worst fears of serving and retired government employees of getting delayed salaries and pension turned out to be true with no payment being made into their bank accounts on Monday.

Normally, salaries and pension are credited into their bank accounts on the first of every month. However, with yesterday being a Sunday, the salaries should have been disbursed on Monday, which did not happen, causing much concern among over two lakh regular employees. There is still no official word as to when the salaries would be disbursed, but there is concern among the Congress leadership as well as the bureaucracy as to how to tide over the situation amidst a grave financial crisis.

Though there have been instances in the past regimes when the treasury went into deficit, but the salaries and pension were never delayed. However, this time the delay might become a routine as there is no provision to raise more loans and the state is totally dependent on the Centre. Ironically, the employees and pensioners of the HP State Electricity Board, who invariably got delayed salaries in the past, were the only ones to receive payments.

“We are running on the ways and means, thereby meaning that the treasury is in deficit and delayed salaries might become a routine in the coming months,” admitted a senior official of the Finance Department, adding that the balance in the treasury was in deficit and “salaries and pension will be credited only if there is receipt of revenue, so we cannot fix a deadline for disbursal”. For the past three days, political circles in the state had been rife with the possibility of serving and retired government employees getting their salaries and pension on September 5 and 10, respectively. Himachal is awaiting a grant of Rs 520 crore revenue deficit grant, tentatively on September 5 or 6, which will help in disbursal of salary. Since there is an overdraft limit of Rs 750 crore, the employees could get their salaries. Meanwhile, the BJP today submitted a memorandum to Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla on the financial bankruptcy Himachal is facing.