Andhra government defers payment of salary for April, decision will not affect pensions

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to defer the payment of salaries for April. A government order dated 26 April said “deferred payment of salaries/wages/remuneration/honorarium…shall be continued for the month of April 2020 payable in May 2020.”

In addition, taking into account the difficulties faced by those availing pension, the government has ordered payment of full pensions to all categories of pensioners, as per the usual scale and procedure.

The state government had earlier, deferred payment of wages on 31 March saying the COVID-19 lockdown had affected the revenue of the state. Chief secretary Nilam Sawhney had said the deferments will range from 10 to 100 per cent depending on the category of the employees.

While IAS, IPS, IFS, and other officers of the Central services will see a 60 per cent cut in their salaries, all other employees will see a 50 per cent cut. Salaries of the Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleagues, MLAs and MLCs, chairpersons and members of all corporations, elected representatives of local bodies, people holding equal posts, and others will be cut by 75 per cent.

Class-IV employees, however, have been spared with a minor reduction of 10 per cent. The decision would also impact pensioners whose pensions will be cut by 50 per cent.

On 30 March, the Telangana government had also imposed salary cuts ranging from 10 per cent to 75 per cent for its government employees, including all-India services officers and pensioners.