Sinha Apologizes to PHHC over Pending DA; 98% of State Revenue Goes in Salaries

October

2026

The Punjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) took a stern view of the Panjab government on 6 Oct over its failure to comply with directions to pay long-pending Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to state government employees and pensioners. PHHC questioned Panjab Chief Secretary (CS) Kumar Anugraha Prasad Sinha over the government's failure to submit the compliance report by the 11 Aug deadline, and asked why criminal proceedings should not begin. PHHC issued a contempt notice to the CS for making a 'prima facie false statement' to the press and on social media. The Panjab government argued that it had approached the Supreme Court of India by filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) seeking relief. However, during the hearing, the PHHC noted that the SLP filed before the Supreme Court was defective and unsigned, raising serious questions over whether it was merely an attempt to delay compliance with the court's orders. On 9 Oct, Sinha offered an unconditional apology. Meanwhile, Sahizada Ajit Singh Nagar-based PANJ Foundation has released a report, ‘State of Punjab: Data Story of 15 Years', which presents an overview of the key changes and challenges in the state’s economy and finances, employment, human development, crime and drug-related issues, and environment over the past 15 years. The report says state government salaries, pensions, interest payments, and power subsidies account for 98% of Panjab’s revenue receipts, constraining the fiscal space for development expenditure on areas such as education and infrastructure. Economist Upinder Sawhney said almost everything Panjab earned was spent before a rupee reached schools or infrastructure. Economist Lakhwinder Singh said that graduate unemployment rose from 13.1% to 16.9% between 2017–18 and 2023–24, while India’s fell from 17.2% to 13% during the same period. However, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey report published by the Press Information Bureau, India's unemployment rate declined from 6% in 2017–18 to 3.2% in 2023–24. Parallelly, the SCI has directed the Panjab government to submit a proposal to provide adequate land for compensatory afforestation in areas where the National Highways Authority of India requires land for road construction. SCI expressed concern over reduction of forest cover in Panjab at 3.67% and has sought the Panjab government’s response by 27 Nov (earlier coverage).