The cash-strapped Punjab government is likely to delay salaries to its employees for the second consecutive month if the Centre does not pay the state its share of Goods and Service Tax (GST). Sources said the state could not borrow money this time for salaries as it already had pending bills worth Rs 6,600 crore. The state cannot borrow more than Rs 2,800 crore under the FRBM limit. The state has to pay Rs 3,500 crore towards debt-servicing in March. Besides, a salary bill of Rs 1,800 crore, the state has a pending bill of Rs 4,000 crore towards power subsidy which has to be paid before the end of this fiscal. This would be for the third time in the 10-month rule of the Congress-led government that the salaries would be delayed. “We do not expect the salaries to be on time next month too. We were waiting for the GST compensation from Centre worth Rs 633 crore that has been pending to us since January 31. If the Centre can delay state’s compensation, we can delay the salaries,” said an official. He said the state’s financial condition was turning worse, especially during these months when the government had to borrow money for debt servicing. In February, the government had cleared salaries in three different instalments. It had paid the Group A and B employees after a week’s delay. It had somehow managed to pay salaries to Group C and D (daily wagers and Class IV) employees earlier.
