Software glitches delay salaries, govt draws flak from SAD, AAP

Chandigarh: The Punjab government has repeatedly announced to give full pay to all its employees, but many of them are still to get salaries for the month of March,

Chandigarh: The Punjab government has repeatedly announced to give full pay to all its employees, but many of them are still to get salaries for the month of March, with the release delayed by “technical glitches” in a new software.

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The state government had introduced an Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) from April 1 for approval of financial bills, including those related to salaries, and release of payments, after its contract with a private IT firm ended. National Informatics Centre (NIC) is operating the new IFMS.

Seeking immediate measures to resolve the problem, Punjab civil secretariat staff association president Sukhchain Singh Khehra claimed that a large segment of employees who were going out of their homes and performing their duty to contain the spread of coronavirus had been waiting for their salaries, even after nine days.

A finance department official said the government was releasing salaries, but the process was taking extra time due to technical snags in the new system. “Our people and those of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are working day and night to remove the glitches and make payments. On Thursday, we released Rs 150 crore for salaries. Banks and government offices did not function for several days this month, due to the financial closing at the start, and then we had some holidays,” he added. Unlike several other states which have deferred salaries, Punjab has decided to pay full salaries to all its employees, including contractual and outsourcing ones, for the curfew period.

The opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), however, flayed the state government for the delay, accusing it of adopting a “callous” attitude towards police personnel, healthcare workers and other frontline workers, fighters against covid-19. “It is unfortunate that in this difficult time, our protectors are not being paid on time by the state government,” former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said, asking chief minister Amarinder Singh to intervene and ensure all frontline workers were paid their salaries immediately. Leader of opposition (LOP) Harpal Singh Cheema also urged the CM to ensure that brave hearts fighting coronavirus from the frontlines do not face any difficulty.