Rs 2 lakh for sweepers, Rs 7 lakh for... : Telangana's monthly salary figures will leave you stunned

• Sweepers in power utilities earn up to Rs 2 lakh per month
• 80 percent of decade's spending went to salaries, pensions, debt

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The Telangana government's monthly expenditure on salaries and pensions has ballooned four-fold over the last decade, with senior Class IV employees such as sweepers in power utilities now drawing nearly Rs 2 lakh per month.

Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao on Wednesday disclosed that the state's monthly outgo on salaries and pensions has climbed from Rs 1,500 crore in 2014 — when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh — to a staggering Rs 6,000 crore today. This represents a 300 per cent surge in fixed expenditure, driven primarily by successive pay revisions that have coincided with election cycles, according to a TOI report.

Addressing a conference on the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission organised by the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Rao detailed a compensation structure where public sector remuneration now eclipses that of top bureaucrats and even the constitutional head of the state.

The disparity is most pronounced in state-run power utilities. According to the Chief Secretary, chief engineers in these departments draw up to Rs 7 lakh per month. More remarkably, senior Class IV employees, including sweepers, in the power sector are earning approximately Rs 2 lakh monthly. Rao attributed the high salaries in the power utilities to a revision cycle that occurs every four years, as opposed to the standard cycle in other government departments.

The trend, however, is not isolated to the power sector. Sources indicate that even entry-level municipal staff begin at approximately Rs 28,000 a month. Drivers and sanitation workers with three decades of service can command salaries exceeding Rs 1 lakh. In the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the two per cent of sanitation workers who have been regularised are entitled to an average of Rs 70,000 per month, exclusive of benefits.

This pay structure has, in turn, intensified the frenzy for government employment. Rao noted that for the 563 Group-1 posts advertised recently, a staggering 799 candidates applied for each vacancy. The promise of lucrative salaries has fuelled a booming coaching industry, with aspirants from various categories spending years preparing for the rigorous selection process.

Despite the mounting expenditure, the Chief Secretary reportedly maintained that the state has managed to sustain the financial burden through robust economic performance. He pointed to Telangana’s growth rate of roughly 11 per cent and a steady increase in revenue streams.

Rao also highlighted the government’s focus on efficient subsidy delivery, citing the Rythu Bandhu scheme. He informed the gathering that Rs 7,000 crore was distributed to farmers with an error rate of only six per cent, facilitated by robust digital infrastructure.

However, the numbers presented paint a sobering picture of the state’s fiscal priorities. In its first decade, Telangana incurred a total expenditure of approximately Rs 15 lakh crore. Of this, nearly Rs 12 lakh crore — a whopping 80 per cent — was consumed by salaries, pensions and debt repayment. Capital expenditure, crucial for asset creation and long-term growth, accounted for only about Rs 3 lakh crore. Asset sales during this period generated a meagre Rs 15,000 crore.