Punjab Govt in worst-ever fiscal crisis
RBI stops payments from Treasury as state slips into ~250 cr overdraft
Chandigarh, March 27
The Punjab Government is facing one of its worst ever financial crisis. The, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), apex regulatory bank, has stopped all payments from the state government Treasury after Punjab slipped into overdraft of Rs 250 crore after availing ways and means advances’ limit of Rs 580 crore.
As a result, a large number of employees of the Education, Health and Animal Husbandry departments, who have been without salary for almost three months now, will have to wait longer till the state government gets enough money to come out of the overdraft and reach the ways and means advance limit. The only bills that have been cleared this month are contingency bills — fuel bills, telephone bills and bills for stamp duty deposited by departments in case of affidavits.
Sources in the state Treasury told The Tribune that through most part of the month, they had “received verbal instructions on not releasing any payments for pending bills”.
Initially there was a strike by the ministerial staff, which led to the delay in payment of most salaries. After the strike got over on March 5, the treasury released salaries on March 6-7 and March 10, following which all payments were stopped.
An official said till March 21, they were releasing contingency payments but all these have stopped as the state crossed the ways and means advance and entered into an overdraft.
Officials in the Finance Department said salaries of most government employees had been released on March 6 and 7. “The salaries of the employees of some departments that had exhausted their budgets for the financial year in November and had failed to seek additional grants from the Finance Department have been delayed. It was only after the Finance Department prepared its revised budget estimates that these departments sought additional funds for salaries. These cannot be released till the Punjab Governor approves the revised budget estimates,” said an official. However, by the time the revised budget estimates were okayed by the Governor, the government had gone into an overdraft.
As such, these employees failed to receive their salaries.
Cracking the whip
* The RBI action came after the government slipped into an overdraft of Rs 250 crore
* The government had already availed ways and means advances’ limit of Rs 580 crore
* The only bills cleared this month are contingency bills, including for fuel and telephone
March By Pensioner association
Hunger Strike of Rural Pharmacist
English Exam of six Schools Cancelled
4 IAS and 16 PCS Transferred in Punjab
88 Cases of cheating in Matric exams in Punjab
