Chandigarh, April 7: A few days after the Punjab government paid Rs 950 crore to the Centre to square off its Cash Credit Limit (CCL) account, it is unable to pay salaries to its employees even after a week since the new fiscal began. The state had to deposit the amount with the Centre at the onset of the new fiscal to get the CCL advance of Rs 22,000 crore for making payments to farmers for wheat procurement. This has caused a delay in disbursement salaries to its employees.
The delay has caused resentment among employees, who point out that this was the wheat purchase season and school admission season. They were helpless on these two counts as salaries have been delayed. This is for the fourth time in the 13-month long rule of Congress in Punjab that salaries have been delayed. The employees have decided to boycott the work on April 10 in protest against the delay. Darshan Singh Lubana, an office-bearer of the Punjab employees union said the employees in the state civil secretariat in Chandigarh and in Chief Minister’s hometown, Patiala,
would mark their presence in their offices on April 10 and after that stage a walk out of their offices to protest.
The employees said they were hoping that the salaries would be disbursed on Friday but it did not happen. On the other hand, the state has yet not received the CCL advance from the Centre even after depositing the money. The finance department that paid the amount to the Centre has to get the money from food and civil supplies department that is already grappling with missing paddy scam in Amritsar.
Already, the state had a challenging month in March. It had a pending bill worth RS 6600 crore. Also, it had to pay Rs 3,500 crore towards debt-servicing in March. It was somehow able to get GST compensation and pay salaries to employees in March.
Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said the salaries are usually delayed in April due to closing of last fiscal. “There were holidays followed by a bandh. We will disburse the salaries on Monday,” he said.
Source Indian Express
