THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government has announced the repayment plan for the deduction made from employees' salaries to tide over the COVID-19 crisis. During a meeting on Wednesday, the Cabinet decided that the amount would be deposited in the provident fund account of employees which could be withdrawn from April.
Starting from May this year, the government deducted six days' salary of government employees for a period of five months to overcome the financial crisis due to the pandemic. This was made through an ordinance promulgated at the end of May. According to this, the government can defer the payment of a portion of the employees' salary, up to a maximum of 25 per cent, in the event of a pandemic or natural disaster.
The ordinance titled Kerala Disaster and Public Health Emergency Special Provisions provides for the government to announce the repayment plan and time six months after the deduction.
The government took the ordinance route after the Kerala High Court stayed an order for compulsory contribution by employees to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund. The order was to deduct six days' pay from the salary of employees for five months so that every employee would pay a month's salary to the CMDRF. The Kerala Administrative Tribunal too had stayed this order.