Growing pension burden on the govt!

• ■ On one hand, payments are being made every month
• ■ Various pending bills continue to pile up
• ■ Employee unions say that more than ₹8,000 crore is still due. 
• ■ About 500 employees retire every month, 
• ■ Amounts payable to them alone range from ₹350 crore to ₹500 crore per month.
• ■  Incomplete payments are causing hardships for employees and pensioners. 
• ■ Those who served the govt now have to wait for their own dues, leading to anguish.

metro india news I hyderabad

For employees, teachers, and pensioners, the bills paid by the government are like a mustard seed, while the amounts still due are like a mountain. These are legitimate dues that employees are entitled to. However, they are piling up like mountains every month. On one hand, the government is unable to clear these bills at once; on the other, insufficient treasury reserves are placing a severe financial burden on it. Critics argue that while the government provided job security to employees, it is completely failing to ensure their financial security after retirement. 

Looking at the condition of retired employees in the state, questions arise whether this is the reward for a lifetime of service to the government. Roughly 500 to over 700 employees retire every month. On one side are already pending bills, and on the other, the benefits due to newly retiring employees are rising sharply, turning these bills into a heavy burden for the government, which is struggling to make the payments.

Accumulating arrears...Retirement benefits must be paid to those who retire every month. On average, 500 to over 700 employees, teachers, and senior officers retire each month. The government has to pay up to an average of Rs 70 lakh per person. This means the government needs to clear bills of Rs 350 crore to Rs 500 crore every month for them. Leaders of employee unions state that pending bills related to employees and pensioners still exceed Rs 8,000 crore. These include gratuity, commutation of pension, leave encashment, TGLI, and various other dues. 

Employees lament that while in service they faced delayed salaries, and after retirement they now have to go around treasury officials for months chasing arrears. Many retired employees depend on this money for their children’s marriages, medical expenses, and home loans. With the government not clearing the dues, they are suffering financially. Severe burden on the treasury...This year, 9,719 employees are retiring. Since the Congress came to power, the government has been gradually clearing bills for employees and retirees. 

However, with lower payments and much higher dues remaining, the pending bills are piling up like mountains. Initially, the government started by paying Rs 150 crore towards these bills. Later, under pressure from employee, teacher, and pensioner associations, it gradually increased the amounts to Rs 250 crore, Rs 500 crore, Rs 750 crore, and then Rs 1,000 crore. After that, as announced, it released Rs 2,000 crore each in May, June, and July, totaling Rs 6,000 crore within 100 days. 

n the previous financial year, the state government estimated expenditure of Rs 44,000 crore on employee salaries and Rs 13,000 crore on pensions. By the end of the 2025 financial year, it spent Rs 47,000 crore on salaries and Rs 19,300 crore on pensions. For the 2026 financial year, estimates were Rs 48,300 crore for salaries and Rs 14,700 crore for pensions; by June, it had already released Rs 13,000 crore for salaries and Rs 7,300 crore for pensions. 

Thus, the funds allocated for employee salaries and payments to retirees are insufficient. Allocations are low while dues are massive. Even in the previous financial year, expenditure exceeded estimates. The government still has to clear more than Rs 8,000 crore in bills, in addition to the amounts due to employees retiring every month. The government is struggling to release salary and pension bills and is somehow managing to keep the administration running without troubling employees. Employee unions express anguish that those who served the government their entire lives now have to wait for their own money even after retirement.