Payment of salary through cheques
In 1995, while I was serving, at theCentral level, as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Welfare, and militancy wasat its peak in my home state, my services were urgently requisitioned by thethen Governor, J&K State. With pressure from the PMO, I had to yield andget repatriated to my cadre, somewhat prematurely. I got my posting asAdditional Chief Secretary, in charge of Finance.
One of the first, among the many challengesfor me, was to deal with multiple requests for allowingdouble drawl of salary for some field formations, on the pretext thatthe militants had looted the cash dispatches, while being carried to farflung areas.
I was taken by surprise, because, in thecentral government, payment of salary in cash was unheard of. Although, back inthe State, payment of salary in cash had been the norm earlier, but I could notimagine that this would have continued after the imposition of Governor Rule inearly nineties. I immediately took it upon myself to make it obligatory for allgovernment employees to open bank accounts and receive salary onlythrough their accounts.
As soon as the orders were issued, all hellbroke lose, and employees took out processions against me, and bannerscarrying my caricatures were taken out in the city. Some sections of employeesgheraoed my office in the Secretariat. Surprisingly, even disciplined forceslike the Police Organization, sought exemption from the order.
Little did I realize that paymentof salary in cash, meant huge flow of money to certain sections of employees,especially the cashiers. It was shocking to hear that in the case of teachers,the cashier’s cut (shared with the supervisory staff/officers) could be as highas 40%, the reason being that some of the teachers were operating only in name,or in absentia by proxy. One of the untenable arguments advanced bythe employee’s unions was that, in far flung areas, there were nobank branches. I countered by saying that, wherever J&K Bank Ltd did nothave presence (others had little or no presence at all other than cities), thecheque could be cashed through accounts at post offices, which had a presencein almost all the village clusters.
I stood my ground, and with some temporaryreprieve granted to police organization, (in the interest of savingour own lives!), the order got finally implemented in full.
The antagonistic feeling of employeestowards me didn’t continue for long. They soon started looking upon me as theirbest friend, after seeing good balances accumulating in their accounts, at theend of each month, which would normally have gone to cashiers. It didn’t takemuch time for them and their union leaders to convert their attitude ofgrumbling into gratitude for me.
The implementation of this decision hadboth short term and long-term impact. The state finances benefittedimmediately, because the need for double drawal of salary was avoided, andthe possibility of fraudulent drawals was much reduced.
As regards the economy, the impact camethrough the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd, which received a bonanza of three and ahalf lakh accounts, without any labored outreach on their part. Theycould now, hugely enhance their consumer loan portfolio, through the employees,without incurring any risk of default, because the bank now controlled thesalary flow, keeping in view their own demands on the employees. The spread ofthis portfolio, which has witnessed a phenomenal increase over the years, hasbecome a major source of income for the bank and has given a makeover to theirbalance sheet.
At the same time, the quantum of money inthe state economy, also massively increased, over the years, without involvingthe state finances.
I lay no claim to having done wondersthrough any of these initiatives. Any of my colleagues could have done it aswell. But I was lucky enough to have been there at the right time, to fulfilthe need of the hour, and find the propitious circumstances to implement theseideas, and take them to a logical conclusion.
The joy created by these experiences hasbeen enduring, as their impact has been extraordinary. As time went by, theyhave become happy memories, which give joy not just once, but as and when recollected,or narrated.