Foreseeing the toll of 6th Pay...
CM writes to Delhi to bail out State
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, May 21 2011:
To tide over the financial difficulties expected to be suffered by the State Government following implementation of Central 6th Pay recommendations to its employees, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh has written to the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to release Rs 300 crores.
According to an official source, in due consideration of the fact that the State Government would be incurring a huge expenditure over payment of arrears following the implementation of Central 6th Pay recommendations to the Government employees since last month, the Finance Minister has been requested to release the fund for the first quarter of current fiscal year.
The SPF Government was constrained to implement the 6th Pay Commission following the series of agitation launched by Government employees, demanding the implementation of the said Act with retrospective effect from 2006 .
The Secretiat staff too had joined the agitation, crippling the functioning of the Government for days last year, which ultimately compelled the Government to crack the whip and issue stern warning to the striking employees.
In his letter to the Union Finance Minister, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh also pointed out the gap which has come about in the non-plan expenditure following implementation of Central 6th Pay recommendations, the source disclosed.
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Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, who is currently in New Delhi will also try to meet the Union Finance Minister and other higher officials to ensure release of the fund, the source further said.
The State faced an acute financial crisis when the then MSCP led United Front Government under W Nipamacha went ahead and implemented the 5th Central Pay Commission sometime at the fag end of the 90s. All development works came to a halt as the Plan money had to be diverted to meet the salaries of the Government employees and overdraft entered the vocabulary of the common people.
Government employees too had to go without salaries for months, which had an adverse impact on the economy of the State as Manipur's economic activities are primarily salary driven.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Foreign Investment Board presided by the Chief Secretary today has discussed issues related to implementation of the proposed Project for draining water from Maphou Dam to Imphal with funding from the Government of Japan .
It is said that DoNER Ministry , Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs have already given its approval to implement the project while the Planning Commission on the other hand is yet to give its approval.