Shimla . Even though Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu tried to allay concerns about the state’s deepening financial crisis, the delay in salaries and pensions of serving and retired government employees proved the apprehension true when no payments were made to their bank accounts on Monday. Normally, salaries and pensions are credited to their bank accounts on the first of every month. However, as it was a Sunday, the salaries should have been disbursed on Monday, which did not happen, leaving over two lakh regular employees worried.
There is still no official statement on when the salaries will be disbursed but there is concern among the Congress leadership as well as the bureaucracy on how to deal with the situation amid a severe financial crisis. Though there have been instances in the previous regimes when the treasury ran into deficit, salaries and pensions were never delayed. However, this time the delay may become a routine as there is no provision for raising more loans and the state is completely dependent on the Centre. Ironically, employees and pensioners of the HP State Electricity Board, who always got delayed salaries in the past, were the only ones to receive payments.
CM Sukhu has accused the previous BJP government of financial mismanagement, which he blamed on the culture of freebies introduced by them. Speaking in the state assembly, Sukhu wanted to say that all these freebies have played a major role in the financial crisis that the state is currently facing. But he told the members of the House that the state of the state exchequer will soon change for the better. He said that he wants to make Himachal Pradesh an economically independent state by 2027 and the most prosperous state in the country by 2032.
On the issue of employees not getting their salaries, Sanjeev Sharma, President of the Secretariat Employees Union, said that every time pensioners and employees get their salaries by the 1st of every month. He said that this is the first time I am seeing that it is 3rd September and the employees have not received their salaries.