Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, the chief minister, is upset with the Finance Department officials for announcing that government personnel will no longer receive higher grade pay. The state administration has authorized an investigation into the entire matter and requested that the report be submitted as soon as possible due to the Chief Minister’s disapproval. Action against the officer who sent the incorrect notification is being planned.
After the investigation report is received, the Chief Minister will take a decision regarding the action. Higher Grade Pay was not to be given to employees recruited in the future; they were to be deprived of additional increment upon appointment, but the Finance Department officials had issued a notification to withdraw it from the employees of 89 categories of the state who are currently taking advantage of Higher Grade Pay.
This created an unnecessary ruckus and the Chief Minister himself had to come forward and assure the currently benefited employees that they will continue to get a higher pay scale. On the orders of the Chief Minister, the notification to stop Higher Grade Pay has also been immediately postponed, but the Chief Minister is very angry with this matter arising without any reason. He has made it clear that the guilty officers will not be spared in this case. The state government is employee-friendly, and the promise of implementing the old pension scheme has been fulfilled in the first cabinet meeting itself. 1.36 lakh employees have come under the purview of OPS. Employees who were getting a pension of Rs 2500-3000 on retirement are getting a monthly pension of Rs 25000 to 30000 under OPS. The central government has also imposed financial restrictions on the state government for implementing OPS. Ever since OPS has been implemented, a deduction of Rs 1600 crore is being made every month. About Rs 10 thousand crore of NPS contribution is also lying with the central government; they are also not being returned.
