Did you know? GHMC sweepers are paid up to Rs 2 lakh per month

Hyderabad: Telangana is facing a sharp increase in its salary and pension expenditure, with long-serving Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) sweepers earning up to Rs 2 lakh per month.

The state is now spending about Rs 6,000 crore every month on employee pay and retirement benefits.

Salary of senior power utility engineers

In Telangana, senior power utility engineers can earn up to Rs 7 lakh a month.

Officials say the current expenditure is nearly four times higher than the outgo recorded at the time of state formation in 2014.

Successive pay revisions over the years, often implemented around election cycles, have significantly increased fixed administrative spending.

The revisions have pushed compensation levels higher across several government departments and public sector organisations.

Highest earners

Among the highest earners are chief engineers in state-run power utilities such as Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited, Telangana State Transmission Corporation Limited, Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited and Telangana Northern Power Distribution Company Limited.

In Hyderabad, municipal workforce salaries have also increased significantly. Regularised sanitation workers earn an average of about Rs 70,000 per month.

Entry-level municipal staff receive around Rs 28,000, while senior Class-4 workers with long years of service can earn close to Rs 2 lakh monthly following multiple revisions.

As most government employees are enrolled under the National Pension System (NPS), it contributes to growing long-term financial liabilities for the state.

Despite the expanding wage bill, increasing revenues have enabled the government to continue paying salaries and pensions on time or with minor delays.