KOCHI: Kerala government’s hurried move to appoint the next pay commission to revise the salary scale of state government employees and teachers at a time when the state is going through one of its worst financial crisis is drawing flak from economists and experts. Salaries and pension payments account for 60 per cent of the state’s revenue, and Kerala has the highest-burden in terms of that among big states. Further, Kerala is the only state which revises salaries of its employees every five years while the pay revision in Central government and the employees of other states is implemented only once in 10 years, they said.
The state government, on November 1, announced the appointment of 11th pay commission — headed by former secretary of Union Shipping Ministry K Mohandas — which is expected submit its recommendations in next months, just in time for the local body elections and in view of the assembly elections in 2021. The 10th pay commission, which was implemented with effect from July 2014, saw an outgo of Rs 7,222 crore after the commission recommended nearly 40 per cent hike in salaries.
In contrast, the pay hike for the Central government employees, which comes only once in every decade, was 23 per cent, said Mary George, economist and former head of Kerala public expenditure review committee. Cusat’s Centre for Budget Studies Director MK Sukumaran Nair, a member of the new pay revision commission, said the panel is yet to get the terms of reference from the government. He, however, contended that it was for the government of the day to decide whether a pay revision is desirable every five years or 10 years.
Jose Sebastian, a faculty member at the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, said as a percentage of revenue expenditure, Kerala has the highest salary and pension burden among comparable states. According to him, Kerala’s per capita salary and pension in 2016-17 stood at Rs 8,291.35 and Rs 4,449.15, the highest among major states. Punjab at Rs 6,849.92 and Rs 2,765 comes second and Andhra Pradesh — Rs 6,309.15 and Rs 2,496.58 is third.
“If you look at the pay hikes received by the state employees, it would be an increase of 100 per cent in 10 years as the pay revision on the higher base for the employees who benefitted from the first hike,” said Mary George.