₹2L for sweepers, ₹7L for engineers: Telangana's salary expenditure quadruples
What's the story
Telangana's monthly expenditure on salaries and pensions has increased four times in the last decade. Senior Class IV employees, including sweepers in power utilities, now earn nearly ₹2 lakh a month. Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao revealed this shocking figure at a conference on the 16th Finance Commission's recommendations. He said the state's monthly salary and pension outgo has shot up from ₹1,500 crore in 2014 to an astounding ₹6,000 crore today.
Salary comparison
Disparity in salary structure
Rao explained that the state's salary structure now exceeds that of top bureaucrats and even the constitutional head of the state. The disparity is most stark in state-run power utilities, where chief engineers earn up to ₹7 lakh a month. Senior Class IV employees, including sweepers, earn around ₹2 lakh monthly due to a four-year revision cycle in these departments.
Salary details
Competition for government jobs
Even entry-level municipal staff in Telangana start at around ₹28,000 a month. Drivers and sanitation workers with 30 years of service can earn over ₹1 lakh. In the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), regularized sanitation workers earn an average of ₹70,000 a month, excluding benefits. This pay structure has increased competition for government jobs, with thousands applying for limited vacancies.
Economic performance
Impact on state finances
Despite the rising expenditure, Rao claimed that Telangana has been able to bear the financial burden due to its strong economic performance. He pointed out that the state's growth rate is around 11% with a steady rise in revenue streams. However, these figures highlight the state's fiscal priorities, with nearly 80% of its total expenditure going toward salaries, pensions and debt repayment in its first decade.