The finance department’s recent directive clarified that contributing to the CMDRF was not compulsory, but it 'strongly' encouraged employees to participate.
Published Aug 20, 2024 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 20, 2024 | 9:00 AM
Kerala Government facing criticism over its latest salary challenge order issued in response to the Wayanad landslide relief efforts
The Kerala government is once again drawing flak over a salary challenge it has thrown at its employees.
Earlier, the government had launched the challenge in the aftermath of the 2018 floods to rebuild Kerala. Issued as an order to employees to contribute to the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, it ran into troubled waters and a subsequent legal battle.
The government has once again issued the salary challenge after the 30 July massive landslides that wiped away entire villages in the Wayanad district. It tried to avoid mandatory salary cuts to escape a backlash like it had faced six years ago.
However, the order’s ambiguity, particularly that of a specific clause, has sparked strong opposition from employee unions, including those affiliated with the ruling party. The unions argued that the clause has left room for misinterpretation, potentially leading to coercive practices similar to those criticized in 2018.
“The chief minister has called for a voluntary salary contribution as part of the salary challenge. However, the court emphasised that it’s not appropriate to compel people to contribute. Matters like this cannot be managed in the same way that private banks handle foreclosures,” the High Court of Kerala said on 17 September 2018.
The high court criticised the state’s decision mandating employees to contribute one month’s salary for flood relief, holding to similar to a heist. Despite facing opposition from various groups, the Kerala government issued an order enforcing the collection of a full month’s salary from its employees to fund the reconstruction efforts in flood-affected areas.
The state government appealed to the Supreme Court against the high court prohibiting the collection of one month’s salary from employees. However, the Supreme Court declined to stay the high court’s decision, which barred the state government from soliciting non-consent letters from government employees who chose not to participate in the salary challenge.
On 5 August 2024, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan proposed a fresh salary challenge for government employees to support the reconstruction efforts in Wayanad.
He urged employees to contribute 10 days’ salary towards the rehabilitation of the affected communities.
In response, various service organisations agreed to donate five days’ salary but requested that participation in the challenge should be voluntary. Additionally, they advocated an option to pay the contribution in installments, rather than as a lumpsum amount.
The finance department’s recent directive clarified that contributing to the CMDRF was not compulsory, but it strongly encouraged employees to participate.
The guidelines outlined several options for the contribution: Employees can choose to donate the equivalent of five days’ salary through their General Provident Fund (GPF), earned leave, or Employee Provident Fund (EPF).
Contributions could be made in one of two ways: One-time payment or in installments over three months (one day’s salary in the first month and two days in the following two months). Employees opting to contribute more than five days’ salary could do so in five installments.
The salary deduction initiative applied to employees of public sector undertakings, boards, corporations, universities, grant-in-aid institutions, local bodies, and commissions, excluding direct government employees.
Additionally, a special interest-free treasury savings account has been established under the principal secretary (finance) in the Thiruvananthapuram district treasury to manage these funds before transferring them to the CMDRF.
The State Employees and Teachers Organisation (SETO) chairman Chavara Jayakumar expressed concerns over the salary challenge. He emphasised that SETO has fully cooperated with the government throughout the process.
“Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan personally called me for discussions before the order was released,” Jayakumar said. “Following this, various employee organisations held meetings as requested by both the chief minister and the leader of the Opposition. Initially, the government proposed a 15-day salary challenge, which was then reduced to 10 days, and finally to five days. However, SETO insisted that the contribution should not be mandatory.”
Jayakumar highlighted a key concern regarding the execution of the challenge. “While the order mentions that the contribution is not mandatory, there is an underlying tone of compulsion to donate five days’ salary. SETO believes there should be flexibility in the SPARK (Service and Payroll Administrative Repository of Kerala) software, allowing employees to contribute one or two days’ salary if they prefer. The current binary choice — either five days or nothing — lacks the necessary options.”
“We are not opposed to the salary challenge but it should accommodate more choices. Employees should have the freedom to decide how much they can contribute, rather than being forced into a one-size-fits-all solution,” he added
K Jayakumar, the state president of the Federation of Employees and Teachers Organisation (FETO), told South First that the concern “isn’t with the number of days — five in this case. What we are insisting on is that the amount should be decided by the employees.”
“The chief minister’s suggestion lacks clarity. The current order presents a binary choice: either contribute five days’ salary or opt-out entirely. This is not acceptable. Employees come from diverse financial backgrounds, so how can these options be considered fair? For families where multiple members are government employees, contributing might be easier, but what about single-income households,” he asked.
“We demand that more options be added to SPARK. If not, FETO will withdraw from this challenge and contribute to Wayanad separately. We are also planning to collaborate with Seva Bharati to build houses for landslide victims,” the FETO leader said.
KSEB Officers Association State Secretary Jayaprakashan P supported the government’s salary challenge. Speaking to South First, he said, “We fully embrace this initiative. As government servants, it’s our responsibility to contribute in such critical times. We’ll work to spread awareness among employees about the importance of contributing, but we won’t enforce it. Ultimately, it’s a personal decision.”
Smitha Gopal, a conductor with KSRTC’s Kottayam depot, shared her distress with South First, saying, “We are receiving our salaries in two installments. After the police department, KSRTC has the highest number of suicides. We are struggling financially. If we oppose this, we might lose our jobs. The salary challenge itself has become a challenge for KSRTC employees.”
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
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