PANJIM: It appear that the BJP-led government has ignored the precarious financial position of the Corporation of the City of Panaji, as it has refused to release salary grants to the Corporation for the last three years. The grant could amount to roughly around Rs 8 crore. This is despite the fact that salaries, wages and pensions constitute a whopping 45 to 47 percent of the civic body’s annual expenditure.
As was the practice, the State government released salary grants, which included Dearness Allowance (DA) that amounted to nearly Rs 2 crore (the figure depended upon the proposal CCP submited) to the corporation annually. However, for the last three years, the government has not released this grant.
For the financial year 2016-17, CCP’s annual expenditure towards salaries is estimated at Rs 25.40 crore on its employees including regular salaries (Rs 18.61 cr), salaries of daily wage and contract employees (Rs 3.82 cr), pension (Rs 1.02 cr), retirement benefit (Rs 1.10 cr), honorarium to Mayor and Corporators (Rs 34 lakh), contribution to salary reserve funds (Rs 20 lakh) and benefit to staff (Rs 29.50 lakh).
CCP currently has 650 staffers which include office staff, contract workers and daily wage labourers.
Sources confirmed that in the absence of salary grants, the Corporation is forced to raise the funds to pay its employees. “The Finance Department is refusing the proposal claiming that Corporation employees cannot be paid as per the VIth pay commission,” sources said.
“Nothing less than Rs 8 crore was supposed to come from the government in the last three years,” sources said adding that the corporation spends around Rs 1.50 crore monthly on salaries. “With the VII pay commission, the salary burden is going to be nearly double,” sources added.
When contacted, CCP commissioner Deepak Dessai refused to comment. “I would not like to comment. We spend around Rs 18 crore on salaries every year, I can say only this,” he stated.
Moreover, Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) and Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) release development grants to the corporation. Currently, the developmental grants available with CCP stand at Rs 5.24 crore.
Apart from this, CCP has salary reserve of Rs 5.88 crore (to be used only in case of emergencies), employees provident fund amounting to Rs 19.77 cr and pension and other retirement benefits deposits are Rs 95 lakh.
