Punjab pegs arrears at ₹18,228 crore; says total clearance only by 2031

An affidavit by state’s finance secretary Ajoy Kumar Sinha reveals that arrears of leave encashment and revised pay/ pension are pending since January 2016.

The Punjab government has told the high court that sixth pay commisison arrears of employees and pensioners up to March 2024 have been estimated at ₹18,228 crore, and these will be paid in a staggered manner up to financial year 2030-31.

A cabinet sub-committee has noted that arrears are going to have a huge impact on state’s exchequer. (HT File)

An affidavit by state’s finance secretary Ajoy Kumar Sinha reveals that arrears of leave encashment and revised pay/ pension are pending since January 2016, when sixth pay commission was implemented and has been calculated at ₹14,089 crore for the period between January 2016 and September 2022. The arrears of dearness allowance (DA)/ dearness relief (DR) in terms of the sixth pay commission between July 2021 and March 2024 have been estimated at ₹4,139 crore.

The information was given during contempt proceedings initiated by one Balwant Singh, an 82-year-old pensioner from Barnala, who had approached the court seeking implementation of high court orders on release of arrears in a time-bound manner passed in 2023.

As per the government, a cabinet sub-committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema with ministers Aman Arora and Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal as members in August 2024. It says the sub-committee met on September 30 and noted that arrears are going to have a huge impact on state’s exchequer. “The state treasury would also not be in a position to meet these huge liabilities,” read the affidavit. Hence, the finance department has been asked to prepare a liquidation plan as per which in the first phase arrears of leave encashment, arrears of revised employees/ pension for the period between January 2016 and June 2021, and (UGC scales from January 2016 to September 2022, which comes out at Rs14.089 are to be considered. And in the second phase arrears of DA/ DR of employee/ pensioners from July 2021 to November 2023) of ₹4,139 may be considered.

As per recommendations those above 75 years are to be given priority. The report would be submitted before the state cabinet and final decision upon receiving these inputs would be implemented, Sinha added.

During the hearing, Sinha told court that dues would be cleared by the financial year 2029-30 / 2030-31.

The court expressed its concern over the deadlines given by Sinha and pointed out that the arrears relate to the sixth pay commission which was payable from January 1, 2016, and by the financial year 2029-30 / 2030-31, a period of around 15 years would go by. “ ..in the meanwhile, there is all likelihood that the Seventh Pay Commission could even be notified by the Government; somewhere in the year 2026-27. In such circumstances, the schedule expressed by the respondent appears to be unjust and unreasonable and the same in no manner reconciles with the directions issued by the court” the high court bench of justice Harkesh Manuja observed, seeking a fresh schedule from the government by October 29.