Budget comes as disappointment to govt staff

The budget for the financial year 2020-21 introduced in the Legislature on Sunday has come as disappointment to the government employees and teachers who were hoping for some announcement relating to pay hike for the employees.

While the revenue expenditure has seen a significant rise in the budget introduced by Finance Minister T. Harish Rao, there was no mention about the wage hike for employees. The development comes in the light of recent announcement by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao that the government was committed to the welfare of the employees and that an announcement would be made on the quantum of their pay hike sooner or later.

In the light of the Chief Minister’s announcement and the significant increase in the revenue expenditure to ₹ 1.38 lakh crore from the ₹ 1.11 lakh crore of the current fiscal, the employees were hopeful that an announcement would be made regarding their wage hike. But no such announcement was forthcoming in the budget speech indicating that the revenue expenditure was enhanced in view of the increase in the size of the budget outlay.

Coupled with this was the nominal rise in the heads of accounts specifically dealing with the employees’ cost. The State government had already extended the tenure of the Pay Revision Commission headed by retired bureaucrat C.R. Biswal till December-end this year to finalise the report and recommendations of pay pattern as well as make suggestions on the changes that are needed to the services rules to make the administration more accountable to the people.

Senior officials said the government was very particular that the cumbersome service rules be revised so that the accounts of the employees could be settled on the day of retirement itself to avoid inconvenience to them. The employees unions, however, are optimistic that an announcement on this count will be made soon.

Representatives of the unions are hopeful that the Chief Minister would make the government’s intentions clear on or after Ugadi. “There is no need to incorporate the pay revision related matters in the budget. The government can directly make an announcement and the Finance department will make allocations accordingly,” an official said.