Stipend provision for government staffers scrapped in Chhattisgarh ahead of assembly polls

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government has quashed the provision of stipend under which government staffers appointed through direct recruitment process were getting full salaries only from the fourth year of appointment, an official said on Sunday.

The move will benefit nearly 38,000 government officials and employees, the public relations department official said.

The state Congress government's move comes ahead of the assembly polls due this year-end.

During the Rajiv Yuva Mitan Sammelan on Saturday, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced to end the stipend provision, and a decision in this regard was approved by the state cabinet later in the evening, the official said.

Under the stipend rule which came into effect in 2020, government officials and employees appointed through the direct recruitment process were provisioned to get stipends of 70 per cent, 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the basic pay scale consecutively in the first, second and third year of probation.

The full salaries were given from the fourth year of appointment as per the rules, the official said.

Earlier, the probation period was of two years, but employees were receiving full salary from the first month of appointment, he said.

The state government amended the recruitment rule during COVID-19 period in July 2020, citing the need for more financial resources in the efforts to contain the pandemic and reduce salary costs in future appointments from an efficient financial management and administrative point of view, the official said.

The government then increased the probation period of employees from two years to three and decided to pay them full salaries from the fourth year.

In the first year, the officials and employees appointed through direct recruitment process were getting 70 per cent stipend of the basic pay scale, increasing to 80 per cent in the second year and 90 per cent in the third year.

A Raipur-based political expert said the stipend rule could have become an issue in the upcoming assembly polls and the move to end it seems significant to woo employees and their families ahead of the elections.