Kerala cabinet on Wednesday promulgated an ordinance to override the High Court stay on deferment of the payment of salary of government employees for six days every month from April to August.
The decision to deduct the salary of employees, ostensibly to help the State tide over the crippling financial crunch precipitated by the COVID-19 lockdown , had sparked off a stormy political debate in the State.
UDF criticises the ordinance
A group of teachers owing allegiance to a pro-Congress trade union had ignited the controversy by allegedly burning copies of the controversial government order postponing the payment of salaries. Their action drew harsh criticism from the government and triggered a war of words with the Opposition.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullapally Ramachandran has denounced the ordinance as a challenge to the judiciary. He said it reflected the Janus-faced nature of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
In Tamil Nadu, Left trade unions have come out strongly against the move to cut the salary of government employees, Mr. Ramachandran pointed out.
The government had no qualms about hiring expensive lawyers at tax payer’s expense to defend its dubious decisions in the High Court. It had splurged money on hiring a helicopter for VVIP movement. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had employed a set of special advisors at a massive cost to the exchequer. He had accorded cabinet rank to CPI(M) leaders who had lost elections, he added
The State had dismally failed in collecting revenue, an estimated ₹43,000 crore, even before the outbreak struck, Mr. Ramachandran said.
Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, Mr Vijayan and Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had attempted to press-gang government employees into giving up their wages. The United Democratic Front (UDF) had only opposed their authoritarian attitude, which did not augur well for the democracy.
He said UDF was consistent in its stance that State employees, who were working overtime to combat the epidemic, should also contribute their mite to the national effort. However, their contribution should be voluntary and not one enforced arbitrarily by the political executive.
