BENGALURU: Chief minister Siddaramaiah’s cup appears to be overflowing as strident demand to raise salaries of state govt employees as per recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission has added to immense economic challenges he faces, chief of which is to ramp up revenue.
The govt is already facing the heat for hiking taxes on petrol and diesel and a proposal to increase additional excise duty on low priced liquor. Now, govt employees are on the warpath. They want their salaries hiked from July.
Employees had expected the cabinet to discuss the issue at Thursday’s meeting but are now incensed since the subject, allegedly, wasn’t even on the agenda.
The issue has been hanging fire since May 2022 when the previous BJP govt formed the pay panel headed by retired IAS officer K Sudhakar Rao. Last year, the tenure of the panel was extended by six months because of assembly elections. The govt’s perceived indifference is now stoking employees’ anger.
“The govt must immediately implement recommendations of the pay commission and hike our salaries with arrears from April last year,” said Sadananda Nelkudri, secretary, Karnataka State Govt Employees Association (KSGEA). “We will wait till the end of the month. If there is no action, then our state executive will meet and discuss the protest we are planning.”
‘Only 10% needed’In March last year, the outgoing BJP govt announced a 17% hike in salaries as interim relief. Employees had demanded a 40% increment. The panel submitted its final report earlier this year, recommending a 27.5% hike. This means the minimum salary of a govt employee will increase to 27,000 from the present Rs 17,000.
“The CM has, in principle, agreed to implement the 7th Pay Commission. Since the previous govt already hiked salaries by 17%, we need to only raise it by 10%,” said Basavaraj Rayareddi, economic advisor to the chief minister.
But funds are a big hurdle. While a 10% raise will entail an outlay of a minimum Rs 17,500 crore, Siddaramaiah, in his budget, had allocated only Rs 15,000 crore for the purpose, increasing allocation for salaries to Rs 80,434 crore from Rs 65,003 crore in 2023-24. This means a shortfall of Rs 2,500 crore.
Vacant postsBesides this, about 40% posts across departments are vacant and if the govt fills them up — an election promise — it will need another Rs 20,000 crore more.
Rayareddi admitted the govt is caught between a rock and a hard place. “We know the salary bill will touch Rs 1.1 lakh crore if we simultaneously hike salaries and fill vacancies,” he said. “But the govt is committed to fulfilling both. We will explore avenues to ramp up revenues to bridge the funds gap.”