Cash-strapped municipalities struggle to pay salaries, pensions

Vadodara: The municipalities in the region might have got some relief after the state government bailed them out in the case of pending electricity bills, but some civic bodies still struggle to pay salaries to their employees and pensions to former employees.
The municipalities have a workforce that includes regular, contractual and daily wage employees. A majority of this workforce has to be paid by the municipalities from own funds but the sources of revenue are scarce.
For instance, the Godhra municipality has still not paid its employees and pensioners for three months. Officials point out that the situation will be resolved only when there is some recovery of taxes. The recovery has also been sluggish over the years.
Municipality chief officer R H Patel said that the civic body was looking at raising tax rates to tide over the situation. “We have a workforce of around 300, including the daily wagers, and an equal number of pensioners,” he said.
In Smart City Dahod, the municipality paid salaries for two months together this week. “There are financial constraints and taking care of the situation is our first priority. We recently raised the rents for around 1,200 shops. We are also imposing conservancy charges for sewage management,” said Dahod municipality president Reena Panchal.
Savli municipality too paid four months’ salary together earlier this month. “There is a delay only in March salary which is due to procedural issues but it will be disbursed soon,” said chief officer Krunal Patel who joined recently.
The municipalities have been able to pay overdue salaries this month because of the collection of taxes. Sources said that over the months, the situation might be similar again as funds get exhausted.
A source in the Padra municipality in Vadodara district said that the municipality was able to pay the salaries as it did not pay the electricity bills for quite some time. The official added that if it had paid the electricity bills, it would not have been able to pay the salaries and pensions.
Sources point out that besides paucity of funds and excess staff, some municipalities are also plagued by the problem of providing services in some areas which is not part of their responsibility.
“Some municipalities have provided streetlights inside societies and foot their electricity bill. They also sweep and clean inside residential societies. Sanitation requires manpower. If this is avoided, we can have lower number of sanitation workers,” said an official of a municipality in Vadodara district.