Telangana’s monthly salary and pension outgo has increased nearly four-fold over the past decade, touching about Rs 6,000 crore, Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao said on Wednesday. He noted that chief engineers in power utilities earn up to Rs 7 lakh per month, while even senior Class 4 employees, including sweepers, draw salaries of around Rs 2 lakh.
Addressing a conference on the recommendations of 16th Finance Commission – organised by the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Rao said the outgo was Rs 1,500 crore when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
Since then, salary and pension spending has risen by nearly 300%, largely driven by successive pay revisions that coincided with election cycles, substantially increasing the government’s fixed expenditure, he said.
One major fallout of these pay revisions is that salaries in some public-sector undertakings now exceed those of IAS officers and even the Governor. Speaking to TOI, the Chief Secretary said pay scales in power utilities are relatively higher because revisions take place once every four years.
While entry-level municipal employees earn around Rs 28,000 per month, drivers and sanitation workers with nearly 30 years of service can earn over Rs 1 lakh, sources said. In the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), about 2% of sanitation workers have been regularised, making them eligible for an average monthly salary of Rs 70,000 along with benefits.
Salary hikes are decided by government-appointed Pay Revision Commissions. These panels determine a “fitment" percentage, the increase applied to the combined basic pay and dearness allowance, which effectively raises salaries across categories, sources explained.
The Chief Secretary said the attractive pay scales have intensified competition for government jobs. Recently, around 799 candidates competed for each of the 563 Group-1 posts advertised. Many aspirants spend years preparing, leading to the rapid growth of the coaching industry.
Rao said the state has been able to manage the rising expenditure due to strong economic growth of around 11% and steady revenue expansion.
Source: News18