THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to issue an ordinance allowing it to deduct salaries of its employees to mobilise funds to fight COVID-19 in the state.
The move comes a day after the Kerala high court had stayed an order of the Left government for salary cut of its employees, observing that it lacked legal backing.
Announcing the cabinet decision, Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac told reporters that as per the ordinance, the state government has been empowered to defer 25% of the salary of its employees in the event of a disaster.
On Tuesday, Kerala High Court ruled that financial difficulty cannot be a ground for deferring or cutting salaries of government employees, staying the state's move to do so.