500,000 to gain from new pay scales declared by Telangana govt

Revised scales come into force in June; move will cost the state Rs 6,500 crore

Much to the satisfaction of employee associations, Telangana chief minister K Chandra Shekhara Rao today declared 43 per cent fitment as part of the revised pay scales for the state government employees.

Announcing the decision in a hurriedly called press conference before leaving for Delhi, Rao said the new scales would be implemented from June, exactly a year after the formation of the new state of Telangana.

The decision would cost around Rs 6,500 crore in additional financial burden on the government exchequer, chief minister said. About 300,000 employees, including the teachers and another 180,000 pensioners are expected to be benefited by the pay hike.

The state government is currently spending around Rs 22,000 crore towards salaries and pensions annually and this is expected to go up to Rs 28,500 crore for full year next year, according to the finance department officials. " The government will have to spend an additional amount of Rs 550-Rs 600 crore every month on employee salaries following this decision," a senior government official said.

The government employees were given 27 per cent interim relief by the government of the undivided Andhra Pradesh when N Kiran Kumar Reddy was the chief minister.

During the agitations era prior to the state bifurcation, KCR had promised a good pay hike to the employees as they were in the forefront of the separate statehood movement and also went on a month-long strike in 2013.