The Kerala Government is scheduled to issue an ordinance to deduct the salaries of government employees to fight the Novel Coronavirus in the State.
According to the sources, the issued Government Order (GO) would allow the State Government to cut six days salaries of government employees for the coming 5 months.
The deducted amount would be used to raise funds for the Coronavirus infection in the State.
The decision to deduct six days salaries came after the Kerala High Court (HC) put a stay order on one month salary deduction in the State.
Kerala Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Issac announced the decision taken unanimously by the State Cabinet, on the 29th of April.
Mr. Thomas said, “As per this ordinance, the state government has been empowered to defer 25 % of the salary of the government employees, in case of a disaster. The State Government can take a decision on giving back the deferred amount within six months. These are the two operative provisions.” He further added, “The state Government has taken the decision on the ordinance as per the Kerala High Court order. We could have gone for an appeal. But, the court said that the government order on deducting salary does not have a legal backing. So, we have decided to make it legal.”
Comparing Kerala Government’s decision to other State governments, Issac Thomas said while other states are cutting 30 % salaries, Kerala Government is only deducting six days’ salary.
Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan said the deducted amount would be given back to the employees, after the situation gets better in the State.
Meanwhile, Kerala recorded a total of 486 cases for the Novel Coronavirus. Out of the total, 123 are active cases, 359 recovered/discharged and 4 deceased.
Stay tuned for further updates.
