Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, July 2: Despite a clear instruction by the Finance Department for releasing the monthly pay, thousands of State Gover-nment employees under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) are not getting their regular salary since months together.
These employees, engaged post January 1,2010 have been facing problem in timely drawal of their salary due to non-availability of the funds under ‘Pensioner Charges’ below Major Head: 2071-Pension and Other Retirement Benefits.
Even as the NPS employees in all the departments are facing this problem, the crisis is more grave in School Education Department, Rural Development Department, Health, etc where the number of fresh appointees since January 2010 is more.
“We are without salary since the current financial year and hence could not celebrate the Eid with pleasure even as the Government had ordered advance release of salary for the month of June on account of the festival,” rued a NPS employee.
The issue was examined last year at the highest level and it was found that the problem arises due to joining, posting and transfer of officers/officials to offices where either no provision for NPS is available due to entire existing non-NPS staff or due to NPS provision projection for lesser number of posts before joining of the new incumbents.
To end the problem because of fluctuation in the budget estimates owing to joining and transfer of post 01-01-2010 employees, the Finance Department, vide circular number FD-VII-08 (NPS) 2016, dated 31-12-2016, had directed all the Treasury Officers to entertain the bills presented at treasuries even without sufficient provision under ‘Pensionery Charges’ provided salary budget is available.
“The provision for NPS shall be deemed as available for the purpose to the extent amount is required for clearance of the salary bill so presented at the respective treasury so as to facilitate timely drawal of salary of the employees covered under NPS,” the circular explains.
Further, the Finance Department also enjoined upon the DDO to ensure that the NPS details are fully shared and reconciled at the Revised Estimates stage. “Should there be any liability beyond the Revised Estimates in any financial year, the same should be drawn in the month of April, after the salary funds are made available to the DDO,” the circular said.
However, even after the issuance of this circular, there has been no change in the ground situation and the problem continues to persist as it was.
Thousands of the State Government employees, who come under NPS, are still facing difficulty in getting regular monthly salary. Funds under Pensioner Charges were made available in the month of March after which pending salary was released. However, no share has been received in the new financial year with the result that a number of NPS employees are again without salary for the last three months.
“We always have to wait for the 10 per cent share to come from the Government for our salaries to be released as the concerned authorities do not keep the promise of the salary payment system despite a formal order in this regard,” said Rajesh Dutta, an employee of the Rural Development Department.
“I took loan from a bank to manage the daily expenses, but now I am being ridiculed by the bank for not paying my EMIs regularly,” rued another aggrieved employee under NPS.
When contacted, some Treasury officers claimed that the Finance Department’s order dated 31-12-2016, to entertain the salary bills presented at treasuries even without sufficient provision under ‘Pensionery Charges’ was meant for last financial year only. However, on being made to go through the said circular again, they insisted that there could be a few individual cases because of some other technical reasons as around 50 percent of the funds under Pensionery Charges have been released.
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