Grumpy over govt wage, pension hike

 COIMBATORE: After seven days of protests across the State by government employees winding down with a pay hike agreement, there ought to have been a happy ending. But the members of Joint Action Council of Teachers Organisations-Government Employees Organisations (JACTO-GEO) are still grumbling.

The fight for treatment on par with that of Central government employees has been raging for over a decade, points out PK Elamaran, State president of Tamil Nadu teachers association. “Despite the implementation of the seventh pay commission, our salary has been hiked by only 20 per cent, whereas Central government staff received a pay hike of 24.95 per cent,” he notes.

On the flip side, there is widespread criticism over the government’s expenditure on the salary and pension for its employees. With the government spending over 65 per cent of its revenue for the purpose, activists question the need to increase them further.

Of the annual revenue of Rs 99,590 crore, the State spends around Rs 66,909 crore on government employees and pensioners, who constitute to just two per cent of the State’s population, informs Tamilaruvi Manaian of Gandhiya Makkal Iyakkam. How can the government implement welfare schemes for rest of the populace with its severely limited means, he wonders.

This, coupled with the amount of loans the government takes, leaves its finances crippled. While the loan amount was Rs 90,000 crore in the year 2011, it ballooned to Rs 3 lakh crore by the end of 2016, he points out. The additional expenditure of Rs 14,719 crore with implementation of the seventh pay commission would only raise the government’s debt, he adds.

According to Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 (FRBMA), a fiscal deficit of just three per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is permissible. However, this extra expenditure would push that to 3.34 per cent, explains Siva Elango of Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, a social organisation. Claiming that expenditure on government employees’ salary and pension has been on the rise while that on welfare schemes has been declining, the organisation has written to the chief minister, asking him not to implement the seventh pay commission. Why did the government give in to the demands of the staff while it did nothing about the needs of the farmers, who had protested for drought relief, asks Siva.

On the other hand, there is some support towards the pay hike. Stating that all government staff must be treated equally, MG Devasagayam, a former IAS officer, asks how it is fair to let State government employees struggle with low wages, while Central government staff have been enjoying the benefits of the seventh pay commission for two years now. Acknowledging the holes in the State’s financial plan, he blames it on financial mismanagement.

Among political parties too, there is strong support, and all leaders have been quite vocal about their stand. R Mutharasan, State secretary of Communist Party of India (CPI), pitches in, “The demands would be considered only if they are genuine and reasonable,” adding that the State is not partial towards the government staff.

Devasagayam has a theory for this. “Political parties are scared of government employees. They have a lot of influence over the general public - right from a government teacher in a rural village to the village administrative officer (VAO). By taking a stand against them, parties would not just lose their vote but also of the votes of their aides.”

An activist recalls the mass arrest of government employees by the Jayalalithaa-led government in 2003 for indulging in protests. Though the then CM was appreciated for the bold move, it proved to be a major reason for her loss in the 2004 Assembly elections. Since then, no political party has dared to oppose the government employees. The time has long gone when the government was for the public, it is now for the public employees, he quips.

Strong vote bank

Recalling the 1967 Assembly elections, when Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), led by CN Annadurai, defeated the Congress led by K Kamaraj, a political commentator says that the main reason for the victory was support from government teachers. The DMK had promised the teachers pay on par with the Central government employees

Number Crunching

Total number of government employees including teachers: 12 lakh (approximate)

Total number of pensioners:7 lakh (approximate)

Additional expense to the government: L14,719 crore

Salary hike: 2.57 times of the basic pay

Minimum salary has increased from Rs 6,100 to Rs 15,700

Maximum salary limit has increased from Rs 77,000 to Rs 2.25 lakhs

Hike in pension amount: Rs 7,850 (using the 2.57 multiplication factor)

Increase in gratuity at the time of retirement: from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh