It?s wait and watch for J?khand for final go-ahead by Centre

Jharkhand, which foots an annual wage bill of Rs 4,500 crore, would like to wait and watch for further developments,like the extent to which the Centre would finally accept the Sixth Pay Commission?s recommendations, especially with respect to fringe benefits.

A large chunk of the Rs 4,500 crore bill forms the pay packet of clerical and supervisory grade officials of the state government, which is not governed directly by the Pay Commission?s recommendations, but is fixed later by the states.

Thus, while states strictly stick to the recommendations made for officers belonging to the all-India cadre services (like IAS/IPS/IRS, etc.), they are not bound by the recommendations for clerical and supervisory officials.

??For such employees the government would have to take a concerted view, which may not be according to the Pay Commission?s recommendations,?? said Jharkhand?s additional finance commissioner (AFC), Niranjan Kumar, adding that the normal practice was to form a ?fitment committee? which, after deliberations, would recommend the new pay scales.

It would thus take a few months to know the exact impact of the Sixth Pay Commission?s recommendations on Jharkhand?s salary bill.

Top Jharkhand finance ministry officials said while the Centre was likely to accept the recommendations in toto as far as pay scales (of all-India service officers) were concerned, it may not do so in the case of higher fringe benefits (like LTC, TA/DA, transport allowance, etc.) recommended by the commission. ??The (central) government may not accept the recommended fringe benefits in toto,?? said Kumar.

State finance department officials said that the impact of the recommendations on the Centre?s wage bill, too, may not come to 40%, as is being suggested by certain quarters. This, they said, was because older officials would not benefit much. Most officials, however, said the situation had to be assessed properly as, unlike in the past, this time the recommendations were ?quite complicated?.

Thus, as of now, nobody is sure of the extent of the extra burden the state would be faced with. ??Nobody is working on this (recommendations) right now. Only after the government of India accepts the recommendations would it be referred to the state governments; right now we are not in a position to assess the financial impact on the government of Jharkhand,?? Kumar added.