Rajasthan, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh join the list of states which cut government employee pay

• A day after the Telangana announced pay cut for government employees, Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that the state government employees will have to forfeit 60% of their salaries in March in view of the global pandemic.
• On the other hand, the Odisha government said that the Chief Minister, ministers, MLAs and others will receive 70% less pay.
• Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan too announced deferment of payment of salaries of the government employees, saying that the “revenue streams have totally dried up.”

A day after the Telangana announced pay cut for government employees, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh also announced pay cuts to back up the state economies amid the Coronavirus outbreak.

Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that the state government employees — including the Chief Minister, MLAs and members of state legislative council — will have to forfeit 60% of their salaries in March in view of the global pandemic.

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

Pawar said that the economy has been affected due to Coronavirus and cutting down on resources due to lockdown is only making it worse. “I hope the public representatives will cooperate with the state finance department as a strong financial support is required for the state in this ongoing fight against coronavirus,” he added.

On the other hand, the Odisha government said that the salaries of the Chief Minister, ministers, MLAs and others will be deferred to crack down on the expenditure and revive the economy. These government officials will get 70% less pay.

"There shall be a deferment of 70% in the gross salary, in respect of Chief Minister, Ministers, MLAs, chairpersons of all corporations and elected representatives of all local bodies," said CM Naveen Patnaik.

Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan too announced deferment of payment of salaries of the government employees, saying that the “revenue streams have totally dried up.”

This comes after the Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced on March 30 that his salary would get deducted by a whopping 75% to back the state’s finances and economy — after the revenue losses swelled to ₹12,000 crore.

Other political members — including state ministers and MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) will also have to offer three-fourths of their salary to the government.

The state government also slashed salaries of civil servants — IAS (Indian Administrative Services), IPS (Indian Police Service), IFS (Indian Foreign Services) and other officers — by 60%. The state government also said that the pension of the retired government employees will also be trimmed to half.

“The coronavirus is adversely impacting Telangana’s economic situation. In this background, the state government has to act with caution and foresight,” the official statement said.

Maharashtra is the epicenter of the disease with 198 Coronavirus positive cases — including eight deaths, as on March 31.

See also:
Eat half of what you’re now eating, says Telangana CM who cuts government salaries and pensions