When a state cannot service its debt, the logical step is to stop servicing its own bureaucrats' salaries as well.
In April 2026, Himachal Pradesh became the first Indian state to formally defer 30 percent of its Chief Secretary's and DGP's monthly pay — along with 20 percent for all Additional Chief Secretaries and Secretaries — citing a fiscal emergency. The state had lost ₹10,000 crore in Revenue Deficit Grants and ₹13,000 crore in GST compensation after Centre transfers were stopped. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, ever leading by example, cut his own salary by 50 percent. His cabinet and MLAs followed in solidarity. The government assured all bureaucrats the deferred amounts would be repaid when the financial position improves — a condition to which no timeline was attached. The state continues to operate its departments through officials who are now, technically, partially working for promissory notes.