Senior sweepers in power utilities to get up to Rs 2L per month as salary: Telangana Chief Secy

Hyderabad, Feb 26 (PTI) The earnings of senior sweepers with 20 years experience in Telangana power utilities has gone up to Rs two lakh per month following the implementation of successive PRCs, Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao has said.

Rao, who was speaking at a conference on the 16th Finance Commission report here, said the pensions and salary bill of Telangana has increased from Rs 1,600 crore when it was formed in 2014 to Rs 6,000 crore now.

He also said the earnings are substantial as they rise cumulatively over the years following the implementation of the recommendations of Pay Revision Commissions (PRCs).

"With the implementation of recommendations of Pay Revision Commissions, salaries of sweepers in some power utilities have gone up to Rs two lakh per month... while that of the chief engineers has gone up to Rs seven lakh," Rao said in the conference on Wednesday.

However, he also said Telangana has the state's own resources and tax buoyancy.

The absence of the state's own resources would have warranted borrowings, he further said.

Rao said the Finance Commission's report has opened important questions on fiscal consolidation, off-budget borrowings and the growing burden of subsidies at the state level.

He drew attention to the need to curb off-budget borrowings, particularly in states like Telangana and innovative methods on loss-making Public Sector Enterprises to make them profitable.

He spoke about the pressures that indiscriminate subsidy schemes place on capital expenditure and long-term development.

Asked about the high salaries in the power utilities, a senior official of Telangana Power Generation Corporation (TGGenco) told PTI on Thursday that the monthly salary bill of the Corporation (TG Genco) is around Rs 300 crore.

For example, the CE (Chief Engineer) cadre employees in the Corporation get Rs 4.5 lakh per month, whereas the same cadre staff in engineering departments get around Rs three lakh.

The salary of entry level engineers is Rs 65,000 per month and DA and increments get added to it, the official said.

The average age of the employees is about 50 as new recruitment is less, he said.

Observing that Class IV employees are non-existent now in the Corporation, he said there are Class III category employees (who have some technical knowledge) and their salary would be up to Rs one lakh.

Senior level staff draw around Rs four lakh per month, including allowances, the official said.

The earnings of senior employees rise cumulatively due to increments and other benefits. He added that the power utility's salaries are high compared to those of other government departments due to working conditions and other reasons. PTI SJR GDK SJR KH