Odisha elections 2024: Are freebies & salary hikes sustainable?

In a bid to woo voters ahead of the 2024 General Elections, the Odisha government is announcing many free schemes and hiking salaries, pensions, and allowances of government employees on a daily basis ahead of the poll model code of conduct.

After announcing a hike of nearly four times in the remuneration of Sarpanchs, the State government hiked the same for Mayors of municipal corporations from Rs 8,000 to Rs 50,000. Meanwhile, considering it to be an opportune moment, several unions in the State have been staging protests at the Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar demanding salary hikes and other benefits.

A day before, the government hiked the remuneration and other benefits of Panchayati Raj representatives in the State. As per the decision, Sarpanchs will now get Rs 10,000 instead of Rs 2,350, while Naib Sarpanchs will get Rs 4,000 instead of Rs 490. Similarly, the Zilla Parishad president will now get a monthly remuneration of Rs 30,000 against the existing Rs 9,380. 

Moreover, the government on Wednesday announced an increase in the remuneration and allowances of Mayors, Deputy Mayors, Chairpersons, Vice-Presidents, Corporators, and Councillors of five Municipal Corporations, 48 Municipalities, and 68 Notified Area Councils (NAC) of the State.

After the announcement, Mayors of municipal corporations, who used to get Rs 8,000 as remuneration earlier, will now get Rs 50,000 per month. Similarly, the honorarium of deputy mayors has been increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 per month. The remuneration of the municipal council chairman has been increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 15,000 per month while the deputy chairman’s remuneration has been increased from Rs 1,200 to Rs 10,000 per month.

The Odisha government also announced an increase in the monthly remuneration of the NAC chairperson from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 and the monthly remuneration of the NAC deputy chairperson from Rs 800 to Rs 7,500.

Apart from this, the government has increased the salary and allowances of Anganwadi and ASHA workers, Swachh Sathis, Krushak Sathis, Law Officers, Construction workers, Mission Shakti Community Support Staff, and even contractual and outsourcing employees.

The State government has also announced to pay Rs 25,000 honorarium to persons who have received Padma awards from the Government of India. Moreover, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced a financial package of Rs 50,000 for each ‘Bhagabata Tungis’ across Odisha.  

As per political analysts, the State government is trying to appease one and all before the upcoming election, which is just around the corner. Taking advantage of the situation, several unions of different organisations are staging protests at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar to put forth their various demands.

Take the cases of yoga teachers, Gramya Sadhana Karmis and Jala Sathis who are staging protests demanding permanent appointment and a hike in salary.

“Our demand is that yoga teachers should get regular appointments in different colleges and universities,” said a yoga teacher Muktikant Panigrahi.

“We are playing a vital role in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). We should be regularised and we should be provided a salary of Rs 20,000 per month,” said Banaja Basini Biswal, a Gramya Sadhan Karmi.

“Our demand is to increase our remuneration from five per cent to 15 per cent. New connection charges should be hiked from Rs 100 to Rs 500. We should be provided Life Insurance and there should be some incentives,” said Sujata Mohanty, a Jala Sathi.

As per political analysts, after 24 years in power, the government is scared of the anti-incumbency factor. Hence, efforts are made to woo voters by appeasing people from every section of the society.

Meanwhile, many economists are of the opinion that rolling out free schemes and unprecedented hikes in salaries and remunerations without having any provision in the budget will severely affect the economy of the State in the long run.

“As per the announcement by the government, the free schemes and salary and remuneration hikes could only be provided up to three and four months. Then there will be a deficit in the budget. I would like to warn the government and the people of Odisha not to push the State economy and politics to such a dire situation,” said former Finance Minister, Panchanan Kanungo.

“Before announcing free schemes and hiking salary and remuneration, it should have been checked if these are sustainable or not. Thinking about sustainability before having any kind of expenditure is the characteristic of a good government,” said economic analyst, Rajiv Sahu.