Maharashtra government looks to cut 30% of workforce
In a move that can only be described as bitter irony, the Maharashtra government is looking to shave its workforce by 30 per cent so that it can afford to pay the remaining employees as per the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations that are due to be implemented soon.
Faced with a mounting salary bill, the finance department in May issued a Government Resolution (GR) asking all departments to submit new masterplans on their staffing needs.
The GR noted that for long-term financial stability, the increase in expense on salaries should not be more than the average rise in revenues. It stressed that “different departments must cut the demand for human resources by 30 percent by trying to bring in efficiency through use of information technology”.
All departments have been given until the end of the year to complete the exercise.
Deepak Kesarkar, minister of state for finance, said large-scale computerisation and direct benefit transfers (DBT) to beneficiaries of government schemes had led to considering the possibility of optimising existing human resources to “adjust using the minimum employee strength”.Kesarkar added that departments like home and public health had been exempted from the employee cut.
“The implementation of the seventh pay commission is impending and we already …read more
