Himachal CM Sukhu Puts Pay-Cut Order On Hold After Strong Protest By Employee Unions, BJP

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has put “in abeyance” a 6 September notification that withdrew salary hikes granted to state government employees, after facing strong opposition from staff unions and the BJP, the Indian Express reported.

The Opposition BJP alleged that the move, aimed at saving about Rs 100 crore, would have made Himachal the first state to reduce employee salaries.

Reversing course on Monday (8 September), Sukhu said “the government is committed to safeguarding the interests of its employees and issuing such a notification was not justified”.

This comes as the hill state’s finances remain under stress.

The Comptroller and Auditor General in its report showed Himachal’s debt and liabilities at Rs 95,633 crore in 2023–24, breaching the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act’s Rs 90,000-crore cap.

The debt-to-GSDP ratio has also climbed to 43.98 per cent in 2023-24 from 39.09 per cent in 2019–20, while annual borrowings exceeded the Rs 6,342-crore limit to reach Rs 9,043 crore.

Nearly three-fourths of this borrowing went into repaying existing loans by 2024, compared to only 52.99 per cent of the debt used for such repayments in 2019, pointing toward a “debt trap”, according to the IE report.

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This is not the Sukhu government’s first reversal.

In 2024, it rolled back a plan to credit salaries on the 5th and pensions on the 10th after union protests.

A sewage charge notification in September 2024 also had to be partially revoked the same day following public anger.

The salary hike in question was introduced by the BJP government in 2022 for around 15,000 employees across 89 categories.

The Opposition has seized on the latest flip-flop.

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Is deceiving the public before elections the only way Congress knows? … The truth is that Congress lacks policy, intent, and capability.” BJP MLA Randhir Sharma termed it “an act of immaturity on the part of CM Sukhu”.

Defending the CM, principal media adviser Naresh Chauhan said: "Former CM Jairam Thakur increased the pay grade merely three months before the 2022 Assembly elections to benefit (BJP) in the elections. Whatever the reasons, we de-notified that particular notification, but CM Sukhu showed his caring attitude towards the government employees as they met him with their grievances, and on the same day, the government put the notification in abeyance."

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