The pay deducted from the salary of employees will be contributed to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund).
In a Circular to the Department of Revenue, the government said that it has decided to appeal to the officers and staff of the Department to contribute their one day’s salary every month till March 2021 to the PM CARES Fund.
However, the Circular also said, “Any officer or staff having objection to it may intimate Drawing & Disbursing Officer, Department of Revenue in writing mentioning his/her employee code latest by 20.04.2020.”
The employees of other departments, except those involved actively in the fight against COVID-19, may also have to contribute one day’s pay from their monthly salary to the Fund.
Apart from one day’s salary, Central Government employees and pensioners may also have to sacrifice the latest hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) respectively for the time being.
Sources privy to the Department of Personnel and Training said in condition of anonymity that the Centre is mulling to postpone the DA and DR hikes, so that the government may curtail expenditure and focus on accumulating resources to win the fight against COVID-19.
The Union Cabinet on March 13, 2020 approved the increase in the Dearness Allowance for Central Government Employees by 4 per cent in accordance with the accepted formula based on the 7th Pay Commission recommendations. Along with the DA, a decision was taken to increase the DR for pensioners also by 4 per cent.
The Central Government employees and pensioners were scheduled to receive the hiked DA and DR from January 1, 2020.
With the economic activities coming to almost standstill due to nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, the government needs huge funds, not only to fight the highly infectious disease, but also to feed crores of people starving due to loss of their work to earn daily wages.
Moreover, prolonged support may be needed, as there are chances that the lockdown would translate into a vicious sequence of stalled production, manufacturing and construction, delays in loan repayments and debt servicing to banks and an overall slump in demand due to uncertainties in employment and salary cuts.
Source : Financial express
