No money to pay salaries of staff, pensioners in Himachal

Shimla: The cash-strapped Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, whose debt liabilities increased to Rs 76,651 crore in 2023, has been facing the worst financial crisis with no budget to pay salaries for 2.15 lakh employees and 90,000 retired employees.

Employee leaders on Tuesday said this was the first time in the state’s history that the salaries have not been paid. They blame the government for acquiring luxuries for ministers and political appointees.

However, officials believe the state is awaiting a Rs 520 crore revenue deficit grant from the Centre, which is likely to come by September 6, and that amount will be used to disburse salaries.

Financial experts blamed financial mismanagement and wasteful expenditure for the deep financial crisis. They blame the ever-swelling wage and pension bills that are pushing the small hill state, which has been banking heavily on borrowings through market loans with an estimated debt of Rs 86,589 crore, besides committed liabilities of over Rs 10,000 crore pertaining to arrears of employees and pensioners, to the wall.

The Himachal Pradesh Employees Federation at its meeting in Shimla has declared that if the demands of the secretariat employees are ignored by the government, it will have to face the consequences.

Federation leader Hira Lal Verma said the government needed to consider the demands of the employees. Also, he emphasised that there should be a dialogue between the government and employees as they are fighting for their rights.

Joining the issue, Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) workers went on an indefinite strike on Monday in protest against the non-fulfilment of the long-pending demand for a regular pay scale, impacting services in Out Patients Departments (OPDs), registration counters and cash counters, in the state-run Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH).

The RKS employees, who had been on a six-hour pen-down strike for the past few days, decided to go on the indefinite strike after their demands were not accepted.