Seventh Pay Commission: Good news for govt staff! Haryana makes provision of Rs 4,000 crore

New Delhi, Mar 22: In a good news for the central government employees, Haryana Finance Minister Abhimanyu said that a provision of Rs 4,000 crore has been made for the salary and pension bill in the state budget 2016-17 on account of 7th pay commission report.

"There will be an increase in salary and pension account as and when government of India accepts recommendations of 7th pay commission and notifies it. We have made provision of Rs 4,000 crore in salary pension for this budget," the minister told reporters.

He said the ratio of salary and pension to total revenue receipts is estimated to increase from 38.20 per cent in 2015-16 to 39.63 per cent for 2016-17. While touching major challenges for the state during his budget speech in the assembly, the minister said that the 7th Pay Commission has submitted its recommendation to the government of India.

"Since we largely follow the pattern of pay scales and allowances adopted by the government of India, we propose to raise the salaries and allowances of employees of government of Haryana as soon as the Centre takes a decision in this regard.

A suitable provision has been made in the budgetary estimates for 2016-17 for this requirement. Needless to say, this revision always leaves a lasting impact on state's financial health," he said. Haryana has estimated salary and pension bill at Rs 24,951 crore for 2017-17, as against Rs 20,693 crore (RE) for 2015-16.

Meanwhile, the FM said the tax exemption given in the budget will put a financial burden of Rs 50 crore on the state exchequer. The Minister said 44 new schemes with planned expenditure of Rs 10,896 crore have also been proposed in the budget for next financial year.

In a reply to a question, he said that the budget focused on creation of maximum employment opportunities. The budget will prove a step forward in shaping the future of the State. The budget of the industrial sector has been increased by four times, he said.

He said the government would also lay emphasis on strengthening of infrastructure which would be the best in next few years. Also, Haryana would have the highest per capita connectivity. While replying to a question, he said that the work to enable dealers to file their returns online would be completed by March 31.

This, he said, would increase the recoveries. On revenue generation, he said, "Because of computerisation, increased transparency and accountability, regular and continuous monitoring and follow up, higher collection efficiency and checking evasion of leakages, we have met the revenue targets."

He said that there has been a jump in the state's own taxes as percentage of GSDP from 6.3 per cent in 2014-15 to 6.9 per cent in 2015-16.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from agencies)