The recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission are taking a big toll on states - Himachal Pradesh being the first to reveal it openly. The problem with Himachal Pradesh implementing the Sixth Pay Commission recommendation is that of the soource of funds. It is all set to get a set back of upto 1500 Crores to 2000 Crore Rupees if the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations are implemented. It is eagerly awaiting the developments that will happen in the neigbouring state of Punjab. Wikipedia on Sixth Pay Commission News
A senior government official has quoted the following: "In a draft paper circulated at a recent meeting, Punjab declared intentions of devolving a pay package for its employees that was higher than the central pay commission recommendations,"
The reason for looking at Punjab is that the Pay structure of Himachal Pradesh is directly tied down to Punjab state pay scales. So it Punjab implements something, the same has to be replicated here in HP. This could mean that the salary bill will be escalated to the tune of Rs 1500 to Rs 2000 crores, depending upon what the Punjab does.
"The governments present salary bill at Rs 3000 crore is about 30 percent of the gross budget expenditure and after implementing the new pay structure it is likely to increase to about one-third of the total expenditures," says DK Sharma, an economist who tracks government budgeting.
As for the statistics, There are about 3 lakh government employees in Himachal Pradesh and the additional pay impact would be in the range of Rs 1200 to 1500 crores.
Then, there are the politicians making their own announcements regarding employment in the state - Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal at a recent public meeting in Kinnaur announced that the government would fill up as many as 28,000 posts in the current fiscal of which 18,000 would be in the education department.
Mounting salary and pension bills alongside meeting interest payments on an accumulated debt about Rs 23,000 crores keeps the state in perpetual financial distress.
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