Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she aims to pay ₹5,000 crore of dearness allowance (DA) dues to state government employees, even as she announced a slew of measures to scale back routine expenditure.
Taxpayers’ money is not to be wasted and the state must strive for “effective utilization of resources for development initiatives”, Banerjee said after a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The state has to repay ₹46,000 crore to clear its debts, so the administration must cut costs to keep social schemes afloat, she added.
Earlier this week, chief secretary Malay Kumar De issued a notice to all departments listing at least 15 steps to be taken to cut expenditure. De had said the state will set up a panel to vet all proposals to create posts and to fill vacancies at government bodies, effectively halting hiring for now.
On Thursday, it was Banerjee’s turn to brief lawmakers about the proposed steps so that they, too, fell in line with the decisions taken to cut costs, said a minister asking not to be named. After the meeting, she said she aims to clear inflation-linked DA dues to some 800,000 state government employees.
“The state has enough funds to host cultural programmes but not to clear DA dues which are a component of government salary to protect against inflation,” said Bijoy Sankar Sinha, general secretary of the State Co-ordination Committee, a Left-backed body of government workers.
The state government has imposed a moratorium on purchase of new vehicles except by departments which provide emergency and essential services. Restrictions have also been imposed on travel and expenses on fuel. The finance department’s approval is needed for the purchase of vehicles and white goods.
On Thursday, Banerjee admitted to lapses in procurement, saying tenders have been awarded at inflated prices due to some “technical errors”. At the cabinet meeting, she was upset with a particular tender and expressed her displeasure over the way the contract was awarded, said the minister cited above.
In January, Banerjee had claimed that government procurement in West Bengal was transparent and that tenders for projects worth ₹36,000 crore had been awarded online.