THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even when the financial condition of the State is in tatters, the government has decided to pay Rs 65 lakh as allowance to Assembly staff.
This action has come at a time when pending bills of contractors and local self-governing bodies to the tune of crores of rupees are still waiting at the treasury to be cleared. The payment worth crores of rupees to government contractors and local self-governing bodies are overdue.
As Rs 2.5 crore set apart in the budget for paying salaries have already been spent for other purposes, Rs 65 lakh for overtime allowance was set apart as additional expense.
The government is planning to give allowance to Assembly staff even when there is no provision in the rules to pay overtime for the extra work hours of employees in any department except the government presses.
Meanwhile, the government’s decision to pay overtime to Assembly staff has baffled employees in other departments.
For instance, overtime pay allotted to a deputy secretary for 104 overtime days itself was Rs 36,400. An under-secretary was given Rs 31,850 as overtime allowance while another employee and a section officer were given Rs 35700 and Rs 33250 respectively as the allowance.