Expenditure on salaries shot up by more than 44 % from 2012-13 to 2016-17
Our Correspondent
Kohima | September 30
Expenditure on employee salaries in the State of Nagaland increased by Rs. 1,146.18 crore (44.02 per cent), from Rs. 2,603.87 crore in 2012-13; to Rs. 3,750.05 crore in 2016-17 at a compound annual growth rate of 9.55 per cent.
“Expenditure on salaries and wages increased by Rs. 61.55 crore (1.67 per cent) over the previous year mainly due to release of dearness allowance installments and incremental benefits,” according to Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on State Finances for the year ended March 31, 2017. The Report was presented in the recent session of Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) here.
The Report also stated that salary and wages accounted for 39.73 per cent of the revenue receipts during 2016-17.
Pension payment
The expenditure on pension had increased by Rs. 64.67 crore (6.29 per cent) from Rs. 1,028.80 crore in 2015-16 to Rs. 1,093.47 crore in 2016-17.
The CAG report stated that the pension payment was Rs. 107.47 crore more than the assessment made by XIV FC (Rs. 986 crore). However, it was Rs. 308.82 crore less than the assessment made by the State Government in its MTFPS (Rs. 1,402.29 crore) for the year 2016-17.
Interest payments Interest payment increased by Rs. 184.86 crore (41.02 per cent) from Rs. 450.64 crore in 2012-13 to Rs. 635.50 crore in 2016-17 at a compound annual growth rate of 8.97 per cent.
The interest payment increased by Rs. 49.05 crore (8.36 per cent) during 2015-16 over the previous year due to increase in interest payment on Internal Debt (Rs. 54.70 crore) offset by decrease in interest payment on Small Savings, Provident Fund etc. (Rs. 3.94 crore) and Loan and Advances from central government (Rs. 1.71 crore).
The report stated that the interest payment for the year 2016-17 was lower than the projections made by the State Government in MTFPS (Rs. 836.69 crore) but higher than the projection made in XIV FC (Rs. 542 crore).
Financial assistance to local bodies
The total assistance to local bodies increased by Rs. 50.24 crore (41.65 per cent) from Rs. 120.63 crore in 2015-16 to Rs. 170.87 crore in 2016-17.
The assistance decreased by Rs. 0.56 crore (5.91 per cent) from Rs. 9.47 crore in 2015-16 to Rs. 8.91 crore in 2016-17 in respect of educational institutions.
In respect of hospitals and other charitable institutions, the assistance increased by Rs. 0.45 crore (2.60 per cent) from Rs. 17.31 crore in 2015-16 to Rs. 17.76 crore in 2016-17.
During 2016-17, no financial assistance was extended in respect of Special Area Programme and Municipal Councils and Panchayati Raj, the report stated.
