Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan urges employees to lower expectations on pay revision

Amaravati, Jan (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday held talks with leaders of government employees' associations with Joint Staff Council on issues related to Pay Revision Commission (PRC) and urged them to be practical and lower their expectations in view of the declining revenues of the state.

During the meeting held at the camp office here on Thursday, he said he has noted all the concerns raised by the employees unions and assured them that all the issues will be addressed and an announcement on the PRC will be made in 2-3 days.

The Chief Minister said he is more compassionate, humanitarian and responsive when it comes to doing good to others and added that it is inevitable to consider certain facts in regard to PRC recommendations as any decision would have its impact in coming years.

He said the revenue of the state would generally increase by 15 per cent every year and added that it was not the case in the last two years due to Covid-19 pandemic. He pointed out that Omicron cases were increasing rapidly and night curfews were imposed across the country. He said IGST and SGST revenues were decreased in December compared to November and urged the employees unions to accept any decision of the state government.

The Chief Minister said State Own Revenues (SORs) were Rs 62,503 crore in 2018-19 and had decreased to Rs 60,934 crore in 2019-20 and it was Rs 60,688 crore in 2020-21. He said the expenditure for employees' salaries and pensions was Rs 52,513 crore in 2018-19 while it has increased to Rs 67,340 crore in 2020-21. He pointed out that the state government has given 27 per cent interim relief employees after coming to power and the amount that had been paid was Rs 18,000 crore since July 1, 2019.

Comparing Telangana with Andhra Pradesh, he said the net per capita income of Telangana was Rs 2,32,632 while it was only Rs 1,70,215 in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has spent Rs 22,608 crore on salaries and pensions for first seven months from April to October while it was Rs 36,000 crore for Andhra Pradesh for first seven months in 2021-22 and added that it was Rs 16,053 crore in Gujarat and Rs 25,567 crore in Bihar.

He pointed out that the revenues of Andhra Pradesh were declining while that of Telangana were increasing. He said the burden on state exchequer would be Rs 7,137 crore per annum if 14.29 percent fitment is provided and added that DAs have to be cleared by the time, the fitment is released.

The Finance Department officials informed the Chief Minister that financial constraints were due to bifurcation of the state and added that net per capita income of the state is lowest compared to south Indian states. They listed out the financial losses due to bifurcation of the state and Covid pandemic.