Salary cut: Employees file plea in HC
KOCHI: A section of employees on Monday approached the Kerala High Court seeking to quash the state government’s order to deduct their salary for six days every month for the next five months, as part of raising funds for fighting Covid-19. The petitions were filed by Kerala Water Authority Staff Association-INTUC and Kerala Vydyuthi Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and Aided Higher Secondary Teachers Association, among others. The petitioners contended that the government order to cut the payment of six days’ salary of employees every month from April to August is illegal and without authority.
Though it is named as deferred payment, nothing has been mentioned about the time when the payment would be made. They also pointed out that there was no provision either in the Kerala Service Rules (KSR) or Kerala State and Subordinate Services Rules (KS and SSR) empowering the government to withhold a part of the salary of the government employees. The government servants should have been given an option for making a voluntary donation as was done by other state governments and the Centre.