Not enough funds for pay rise

Central aid needed to implement pay panel recommendations: J&K

Jammu, Jan 31: Given the state's own resources, the Jammu and Kashmir government would not be able to implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations immediately and have to wait till it gets Central assistance, the Minister for Finance, Law and Parliamentary Affairs A R Rather has said.

"As the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations have to be implemented with retrospective effect from 2006, we need Rs 3,800 crore to meet arrear payments and an additional Rs 1,700 crore every year to meet the recurring expenditure although our own resources are limited to only Rs 2,600 crores," Rather told media.

"It is not possible to immediately meet the demands of the employees and pensioners regarding implementation of the pay panel's recommendations given the financial health of the state and we have to wait till Central support is received on this count," he said.

He said the government is exploring various ways of generating resources and a team of officers, including the Economic Advisor and the Commissioner Finance, has already held meetings with the Planning Commission in New Delhi.

"The government is hopeful of receiving central assistance on this account and would definitely fulfil its commitment towards employees in due course of time," Rather said and advised the employees associations to be reasonable and understand the difficulties of the government.

The minister pointed out that the state had received only Rs 4,500 crore budgetary support from the Centre last year and an additional Rs 1,000 crore under the Prime Minister's package.

The minister said besides Jammu and Kashmir, many other states are facing a similar situation and are yet to implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

For this reason, the issue came up during the meeting of the Empowered Committee of Finance Ministers on January 21 where it was decided that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who also holds charge of the finance ministry, would be requested to sort out the issue.

Unfortunately, the prime minister has been taken ill and consequently the matter has got delayed, Rather said.

The government is, however, hopeful of generating the resources needed to meet the additional financial burden and will implement the recommendations to the satisfaction of employees and pensioners, the minister added.

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http://www.zeenews.com/states/2009-02-01/503495news.html

MUDDASIR ALI


SRINAGAR, FEB 15: The finance minister Abdur Rahim Rather Sunday said the government would take a decision on the implementation of recommendations of the 6th pay commission in the next few days.
The finance minister Abdur Rahim Rather told Greater Kashmir the government will sit and discuss the demands of its employees. “We will call a high level meeting and discuss threadbare what to do next. We have already promised in principle to implement the recommendations of the pay panel,” Rather said.
On Friday Rather and senior officials of the finance ministry met with the Joint Consultative Committee of the employees. He said, “Government is not in favor of confrontation with its employees. I once again assured them that government will implement the recommendations but they should support us,” Rather said.
Rather said the strikes would only compound the financial problems of state. To meet the financial liability on account of retrospective effect to the recommendations and other demands of the employees, Rather said, the state would have to generate Rs 3,800 crore, with a recurring commitment of Rs. 1,380 crore annually.
“The internal revenue of the state stands at Rs 2600 to Rs 2700 crore only. I urge the employee to co-operate and call off their strike,” he said.
Official sources said that the government is likely to take up the issue of resources for implementation of the pay panel recommendations with the government of India in next week or two.

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http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=16_2_2009&ItemID=45&cat=1