Chandigarh, Aug 3 (PTI): Punjab government employees have historically received salaries substantially higher than their central government counterparts, with several cadres drawing 30 per cent to 70 per cent higher salaries under the state's pay structure, an official statement said on Monday.

Despite providing Dearness Allowance (DA) at 42 per cent, compared to the central government's 60 per cent, the Punjab government employees in many categories continue to receive higher aggregate monthly salaries because of the state's higher pay scales, it said.

The statement came after the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday directed the state government to clear pending DA of employees and pensioners within a fortnight.

The Punjab government has consistently maintained that it is willing to ensure that no employee receives less than the total emoluments payable under the central government pay scale together with the central government DA rate, it said.

However, the state has maintained that the higher central government DA rate cannot be applied on top of Punjab's already higher pay scales, as the two pay structures cannot be combined, it added.

Punjab has also maintained that fixation of DA is a sovereign policy decision of the state government, it said.

"Punjab already bears the highest salary and pension burden among major Indian states," it said.

According to the state government, implementation of the high court judgement is expected to further increase this burden, reducing the fiscal space available for capital and developmental expenditure.

It cited that the total monthly salary of a clerk in Punjab is Rs 54,812, as against Rs 36,960 in the central government.

Similarly, a driver in Punjab gets Rs 40,612 in comparison to Rs 36,960 in the central government. PTI SUN DIV DIV

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)