Coronavirus: Maharashtra legislators to take 60% pay-cut; similar cuts for govt staff

Keeping in mind the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on Maharashtra's economy, the state government announced its decision to slash 60 percent salary of legislators and local body members for the month of March. This decision by the Uddhav Thackeray-led government comes at a time when the entire nation withdraws into a three-week-long lockdown owing to the COVID-19 virus. This 60 percent pay-cut would affect all the top-level public representatives in the state, including MLAs, MLCs and the Chief Minister as well. 

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The decision for a pay-cut was announced by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who also handles the Finance Ministry of the state. In an official statement, Ajit Pawar announced that there would be a 50 percent salary deduction of Class A & B employees, a 25 percent salary deduction for Class C employees and no salary deduction of class D employees. He also added that the decision had been taken after a detailed deliberation with the Chief Minister as well as various employee unions. 

"The salaries of Class I and II will be cut by 50 per cent while that of Class III employees will be cut by 25 per cent. There will be no cut in the salaries of remaining classes in the state bureaucracy," he said.

Read: COVID-19: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray Speaks Frontline Pune & Mumbai Hospital Staff

Maharashtra seeks special package

This also comes shortly after the Maharashtra government demanded a special package from the central government mentioning the economic hardships faced by the state due to Coronavirus. Ajit Pawar in a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javadekar sought a special Rs 25,000 crore package to tackle the crisis. 

"The Industry, trade, and service sectors have come to a halt after the central government announced a three-weeks national lockdown due to the Coronavirus. The state income had risen sharply in the last month of the financial year, however, due to the Coronavirus and the lockdown, the income has almost stopped this year," said Ajit Pawar asking the Centre for financial aid. 

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Read: Lockdown: Maharashtra's Parli Power Station Shut Due To Low Demand

(With Agency Inputs)