Congress-ruled Mizoram and Left-ruled Tripura have said that they are not in a position to implement the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations for their employees.
To implement the 7th CPC, Tripura requires an additional Rs 2,500 crore, while Mizoram requires an Rs 563.22 crore more annually.
“To implement the 7th CPC recommendations for Tripura government employees, the state government requires additional amount of at least Rs 2,500 crore annually,” Tripura Finance Minister Bhanulal Saha told IANS.
“The state government is not averse to implementing… (But) currently the state… is facing a severe financial crunch. We are considering the demand,” he added.
The minister said that the Centre had stopped much of its aid and changed the sharing pattern for the centrally-sponsored schemes (CSS). This had caused Tripura a net loss of Rs 1,356 crore in 2015-16.
He also said that the Centre had even stopped funding under normal central assistance, special plan assistance and special central assistance.
Besides, the fund flow under some major schemes was reduced by Rs 314.72 crore during 2015-16, he added.
“With regard to state government employees’ payments, the state had received Rs 500 crore less in 2015-16 from the Union government despite its obligations,” Saha said.
“We apprehend that in 2016-17, we may also get Rs 1,100 crore less funds from the central government,” he said.
Saha said the Tripura government would move the Supreme Court challenging the Tripura High Court verdict which asked the state government to pay the pending 42 per cent dearness allowance (DA) to 2,09,000 state government employees and pensioners.
After the latest four per cent release on July 14, the DA of Tripura government employees and pensioners rose to 83 per cent, while that of the central government was at 125 per cent.
Source: Financial Express
