KOCHI: A petition was filed before the Kerala High Court challenging the state government's order directing the government employees to contribute one month's salary to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).
In the petition, the Kerala NGO Sangh said the order was compulsory in nature. According to the petitioner, the order stated a month's salary should be calculated based on the gross salary of September 2018 and should be given in instalments of maximum 10 months.
The contribution will be in effect from September itself. The order also allowed the employees to remit amount equivalent to the gross salary of September from their general provident fund account, the plea stated.The petitioner alleged the contributions were being collected without the consent of the employees.
Besides, the government staffers affected by the flood were yet to recover from the damage caused and compulsory collection of one month's salary would add to their grievances. The recovery of one month's salary from the employees without their consent amounted to extortion. It also infringed the fundamental right of the government servants, the petition stated.