AP awaits funds to pay staff salaries

The Andhra Pradesh government will not be able to pay salaries and pensions for March unless the Central government releases funds in the next two days.

The state needs `2,500 crore in the next couple of days for this. Its overdraft crossed `3,000 crore on Sunday. The state, in fact, has been operating on overdraft since March 21 and it has just 14 days to clear the dues otherwise the Reserve Bank of India will freeze its bank accounts.

AP has decided to pay salaries on April 2 if funds are available, and if the Centre does not release funds, it will have to take an overdraft once again, which, according to finance department officials, will take the state’s total overdraft to `6,000 crore.

However, a large sum is expected from the Centre in the next two days, before the end of this financial year.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley had promised AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu that the funds would be released when the two had met in New Delhi recently. In addition to the CM, senior IAS officers and some ministers are also camped in the national capital to follow up regarding the funds.

The finance department officials, said they would know by March 31 how much funds the state would get from the Centre. Mr Jaitley had also promised AP Finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu that the Centre would release `650 crore under CST compensation. Hyderabad: AP has decided against holding Eamcet online this summer due to the cost factor and the financial burden on students. The plan was abandoned after officials of the AP State Council of Higher Education concluded that students may have to pay around `600, double of `250 for the offline test. “Such a hike is not warranted at this time,” a senior official of the APSCHE said.

AP has decided to pay salaries on April 2 if funds are available, and if the Centre does not release funds, it will have to take an overdraft again, which, will take the state’s total overdraft to 6,000 crore.