Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma has asserted that there will not be downward revision of salaries with the implementation of the new Pay Revision Commission (PRC) report.
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“There will not be any change in the gross salary of the employees. The expenditure on the employees in the State budget is the highest,” Mr. Sharma said while addressing the media on Wednesday.
Mr. Sharma said the expenditure on Human Resources was the highest in Andhra Pradesh compared to other States.
“While the expenditure on HR as a percentage of overall expenditure is 36 in Andhra Pradesh, it is between 21 and 32 in States such as Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, and Telangana. Similarly, the HR expenditure as a percentage of State Owned Resources (SOR) has increased to 111% in 2020-21 against 84 in 2018-19,” Mr. Sharma said.
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‘IR not part of wages’
“It is not correct on the part of the employees to level allegations against the State government. They know that the Interim Relief (IR) is not a part of the wages. The IR is paid as there has been a delay in the PRC. The Dearness Allowance is calculated from 2019. The employees have to look into the gross salary paid to them. There is a growth in the pension and gratuity as well,” the Chief Secretary asserted..
Stating that COVID-19 had impacted the State’s finances badly, the Chief Secretary said the SOR was ₹60,933 crore in 2020-21. Had the growth rate been 15% per annum, the resources would have been ₹82,620 crore. “Now, there is a gap of ₹21,933 crore,” he said.
“Despite this, A.P. is implementing welfare schemes and has done justice to the employees and pensioners,” he said.
The Ashutosh Mishra Committee report was not kept in cold storage. The officers’ committee had studied all aspects scientifically, he added.
“It is natural for the employees to make personal comments. As a head of the family, I take all the allegations. The employees need not agitate. We feel that justice has been done to everyone,” the Chief Secretary said.
‘Scientific measures’
Principal Secretary to Government (HR) Shashi Bhushan Kumar said the HRA slabs were fixed as decided by the Central government. The CCA was done away with. These measures were done scientifically, he said.
“The State government has decided to do away with ₹40,000 HRA to the All-India Service officials. Implementation of the PRC will entail an additional burden of ₹10, 247 crore. The salary of every employee will increase significantly with the new PRC. Every employee will get an additional benefit of ₹24 lakh per two years. This is in addition to the ₹7 lakh towards the house sites offer,” Mr. Kumar said.
Special Chief Secretary (Finance) S.S. Rawat was present.