'Financial health of Assam' Does service match the amount spent?

GUWAHATI: The financial health of Assam is such that the income of the State from its own sources is not even enough to pay salaries and pension to its employees and pensioners throughout the year. The State has to rely on the Centre for such payments for four to five months.

At present the State Government can pay salaries and pension to its employees and retired employees for seven months. For the remaining five months, Dispur has to depend on Central grants to make such payments. Despite such a precarious financial condition, the State government has to go for recruitment of more employees to arrest the burgeoning joblessness. And this year the State government is going to appoint 55,000 more employees.

A reality check shows that only 29 per cent of the budgetary allocation of the State comes from its own resources of revenues like that of Excise, Transport, VAT, Sales Tax etc. The State has been staggering under the salary and pension burden of around Rs 31,000 crore yearly. The State government spends a huge amount for salaries of employees. However, the quality of services to the public being rendered by the employees is under question.

In his 2020-21 Budget speech, State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma did admit that in fiscal 2015-16 the State government could pay salaries and pensions to its employees for six months only with its own resources. "We've been able to pay salaries and pension for seven months with our own resources in 2018-19. I hope, in this fiscal we'll be able to pay salaries and pensions without depending on the Centre," he said.

Things have, however, gone wrong after the corona-induced lockdown – leading to drastic fall in the State's own revenue collection and in Central shares of funds as well. In such a situation, the State government will have to rely on the Centre for the payment of salaries and pension.

Spending of budgetary allocation is always considered an indication of a vibrant economy. During its regime the Congress spent barely 50-56 per cent of budgetary allocations in Assam. The State, however, was able to spend 67 per cent of budgetary allocation in fiscal 2018-19. Official sources said that the spending of budgetary allocation has not been prompt in this fiscal because of the pandemic. "However, we hope to gear up spending after October," an official source said.

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