more-in In a major step towards revamping the administrative machinery, the Tamil Nadu government has constituted a Staff Rationalisation Committee to identify non-essential posts in various government departments to reduce its revenue expenditure. The panel will also identify posts that can be “outsourced or appointed through contract appointment for an initial period to control expenditure.” The Finance department has also constituted a one-member committee to look into the pay anomalies highlighted by various employees’ associations, in line with the Governor’s speech in the Assembly last month. The constitution of the Staff Rationalisation Committee follows the recommendations of the Official Committee, 2017, which was set up to make necessary recommendations on revision of scales of pay and allowances for State government employees and teachers, including employees of local bodies. The Staff Rationalisation Committee, which is to function under retired IAS officer S. Audiseshiah, will have M.A. Siddique, Secretary (Expenditure) in the Finance department, as its ex-officio Secretary, and would submit its report to the government within six months, according to a G.O. issued by the Finance department on Monday. According to the Terms of Reference, the Committee would consider issues concerning administrative expenditure management in government and government agencies and make suitable recommendations. Pay panel’s impact The one-man committee, headed by M.A. Siddique, will examine the pleas on pay anomalies, pay revision consequent to the implementation of the revised pay levels and clarification in the method of fixation of pay in the revised pay structure and other allied benefits. The panel will make specific recommendations in its report to the government by July 31, 2018. It may be noted that 38.17% of the State’s revenue expenditure of ?1,75,293 crore was allocated for the payment of salaries and pensions during 2017-2018 (excluding the implementation of the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission), as was laid out in the Assembly by the then Finance Minister D. Jayakumar in March last year. Following the implementation of the pay commission’s recommendations in October last year, the government was incurring an additional burden of ?14,719 crore annually. “Considering the additional expenditure due to pay revision based on the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations, periodic hikes in Dearness Allowance, increments and filling up of vacancies, a growth rate of 31.58% for salaries and 34.37% for pensions and other retirement benefits for 2018-2019 and 10% for both salaries and pensions for 2019-2020 are assumed,” Mr. Jayakumar had said. In the recent past, there have been protests by employees of various government departments, demanding a revision in their pay structure.

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