Maha: March salaries of ministers, officials to be paid in two installments

Elected representatives including ministers and government officials in Maharashtra will not receive full salary for the month of March, Finance Minister Ajit Pawar said on Tuesday, blaming `delay' in the payment of dues by the Centre for this decision.

This was a change from earlier statement where he had said that there will be a salary cut of upto 60 per cent due to the financial impact of coronavirus and lockdown. A Government Resolution (GR) issued later said that remaining salary would be paid at some later point.

Elected representatives including the chief minister, ministers and MLAs will get their salaries for March with 60 percent deduction, Pawar said earlier in the day.

A and B grade government employees will get their salaries with 50 percent deduction while C grade employees will get salaries with 25 percent cut. There will be no cut in the salaries of D grade employees, he had added.

Pawar, who is also deputy chief minister, said the decision was taken after consultation with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and employee unions.

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"The state's economy has been affected by the coronavirus crisis and reduction in resources due to ongoing lockdown," Pawar said.

A Government Resolution (GR) issued by the finance department subsequently said the salary for March, which is disbursed in April, will be paid in "two installments" and the balance will be paid later.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, all private establishments, industrial units are closed, which has reduced the state's revenues, the GR noted. The salary cut will also apply to semi-government organisations and aided educational institutions including universities, the GR added.

A statement issued by Pawar's office in the evening said the salary of March will be paid in two installments.

The decision had to be taken as an amount of Rs 16,654 crore due from the Centre had not been received as of Tuesday, the last day of the financial year, Pawar said.

"If the money had been received, salaries could have been given in single installment," Pawar said.

When the entire government machinery was working hard to stop the coronavirus spread, there was no question of a cut in their salaries, Pawar added.

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