With the state staring at revenue losses to the tune of Rs 22,000 crore in view of the COVID-19 crisis, all Punjab ministers on Thursday decided not to take their salaries for three months.
Also the Chief Secretary appealed for all government employees to take voluntary cuts in the wages to help the state meet the unprecedented contingency.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Finance Sub-Committee, constituted under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, to take stock of the fiscal implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finance Minister Manpreet Badal informed the meeting that of the Rs 88,000 crore revenue receipts estimated to be raised by the state for FY20, only Rs 66,000 crore would now be generated in the light of the curfew, which had brought all business, tax receipts, etc. to a standstill and also resulting in lower GST collections.
An official spokesperson said after the meeting all the ministers in the state had voluntarily decided to donate their full salaries for the next three months to the Chief Minister’s Covid Relief Fund.
Later, on the directives of the Chief Minister, who was not in favour of imposing any salary cuts on employees, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh issued an appeal asking all government employees and employees of public sector undertakings, local bodies, boards and corporations to volunteer to contribute their pay and allowance to the COVID fund.
The Chief Secretary suggested that grade A and B employees should contribute 30 per cent, grade C should contribute 20 per cent and grade D should contribute 10 per cent of their monthly emoluments for April, May and June.