Andhra Pradesh Government employees to get full salaries for May

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Thursday, directed the state administration to pay full salaries to government employees for the month of May. The decision was taken during a review meeting and the finance department was given orders to proceed further.

Due to the recent coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, the State Government had deferred payment of a certain percentage of amount for March and April salaries due to financial crisis. The police force, healthcare, sanitation workers, and medical workers will be prioritised during the payout of the 100 percent salaries as they have been in the forefront in fighting the pandemic.

The government has also asked all the employees to return to their offices from Thursday. For employees coming from different places, Andhra Pradesh State Road Transportation Corporation (APSRTC) buses have been arranged to reach the Secretariat so that they resume their respective duties. Since several employees are stranded in Hyderabad, the government has been requested to arrange special buses to bring them back.

The government has also further decided to pay full pension amount to government pensioners this month. Last month, they had only been paid 50 percent of the pension due to the pay deferment.
Earlier, in the wake of the lockdown, the Andhra Pradesh State Government had issued an order for the deferment of salaries/wages/remuneration/honorarium/pensions of employees on a gross basis saying that the state’s revenue streams have dried up while combating the health crisis. The percentage of the salary deferment was categorised with the Chief Minister, State Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, Chairperson & Members of all Corporations, elected representatives of all Local Bodies & people holding equivalent posts getting a 100% deferment.

Although the employees’ association had agreed to the deferment of payment for the month of March, some of them started protesting against continuing the deferment into the month of April as well.