In a generous gesture, IAS officers, IPS officers, Indian Forest Service officers and gazetted officers of the Maharashtra government will contribute two days of their salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Category C and D employees will be contributing one day's salary in the month of May. The money will be used exclusively for the ongoing coronavirus containment measures. The government issued the notification on Monday.
There are around 17 lakh government employees of the state government.
A senior bureaucrat told the Free Press Journal, “The state government’s monthly outgo towards salary is Rs 9,000 crore. With today’s decision of two days and one day of salary cut, the government can mobilise Rs 400 crore, which will be spent on a number of measures taken to curb the spread of the virus in the state.’’ He informed that the government took the decision to cut the May month’s salary after it had received representations from various associations representing the officers and employees.
The under secretary SM Mule in the state General Administration Department in the notification has asked the departments and undertakings to convey the government’s decision on the salary cut taken in an extraordinary situation. In the event of any objections, employees have been asked to give in writing to the respective department and its head.
Today’s decision comes after the state cabinet last month had approved a 30 per cent salary cut for all the legislators for a year.
