Despite a hefty increase in non-plan revenue expenditure during the past few years, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has said his government would initiate a recruitment drive to fill 40,000 vacant posts in the state.
An announcement to this effect was made by Bahuguna during a public rally in Rudrapur town in Kumaon region yesterday, an official statement said.
The chief minister also said all those contractual employees in the government who have completed 10 years will also be regularised.
But financial experts here said it would be an uphill task before the chief minister to fill all these posts. At present, nearly 70,000 posts in the government are lying vacant.
Non plan revenue expenditure (NPRE) of the state has increased by 96.53 per cent in the past five years the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has said in its latest report. During the year 2011-12, the increase in NPRE (Rs 1,505 crore) was mainly due to increase in expenditure under salaries (Rs 507 crore), it said. The NPRE in the year 2011-12 increased by 16.45 per cent as against the previous year, the CAG noted.
The expenditure on salaries accounted for 46.66 per cent and continued to consume a major share of NPRE during 2011-12. Expenditure on pension payments was Rs 1,135 crore in the last financial year which constituted 8.29 per cent of the revenue receipts. The pension payments were well below than the normative assessment (Rs 1208 crore) made by the Finance Commission.
Significantly, Bahuguna in an interview last year to Business Standard had expressed concern over the ballooning expenditure on the non-plan side in the state.
Out of the total budget outlay of Rs 21,000 crore, an approximately Rs 13,000 crore goes to the non-plan side which has to be curtailed, he had stated. But thereafter, Bahuguna avoided making any public statement about the health of the state's finances. This is the first time after assuming office last year in March that the Chief Minister has made announcement to fill 40,000 vacant posts in the government.
Former CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had made similar commitments but his government failed to fulfill the promise.
Bahuguna had also expressed his commitment to increase revenue resources by activating tax structures.
According to top officials, a total of 65,000 posts are lying vacant in the government. "We must make a review of the revenue income before filling all these jobs," said the official.
