After Uttar Pradesh, the Uttarakhand government is considering a strategy to implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations in the hill state for its employees.
The government has constituted a high-powered two-member committee headed by former union petroleum and natural gas secretary Sushil Kumar Tripathi. The other member of the committee was state Finance Secretary Radha Raturi, official sources said here today.
In case the government implements the sixth pay commission with effect from January 1, 2006, it will put an extra burden of Rs 2,500 crore on the state exchequer in terms of arrears. The state will need Rs 810 crore every year.
At present, the state government has 160,000 employees even as 65,000 jobs are lying vacant. In case these posts are filled, the government will require Rs 1,500 crore every year.
The government has come under considerable pressure after the Uttar Pradesh government announced its decision to implement the sixth pay panel recommendations. The state employees are hoping that they will get a hike of 25 per cent.
The main task of the committee will be to devise ways and means for the implementation of the sixth pay commission report in the hill state.
More From This Section
The committee will suggest various measures so that the state can generate extra funds and assess as to how the FRBM Act is not affected by the sixth pay panel and devise ways and means for maintaining financial discipline in the face of rising inflation.
In the first year, the pension bill will increase the burden on the state exchequer by Rs 120 crore.