The Kerala government began crediting the salaries of government employees on Monday, but has temporarily limited daily withdrawal at ₹50,000 citing technical issues.
Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, talking to reporters here, said the government hoped to complete the disbursal of salaries and pensions for the month of February within the next two to three days.
The ₹50,000 cap has been set reportedly to prevent the treasury drifting into overdraft once again. The official account is that the limit has been set to prevent the online system from collapsing. The payment of salaries via the employee-Treasury Savings Bank (e-TSB) accounts was hit on March 1, triggering protests from employees’ organisations.
On Monday, Mr. Balagopal roundly blamed the Union government for the financial crunch. The Centre has whittled down the State’s eligible funds by ₹57,400 crore. It has offered to permit the State borrow ₹13,608 crore in return for withdrawing the suit filed in the Supreme Court, he said. Kerala expected a favourable decision from the Supreme Court when the case is heard on March 6 and 7, he added.
Hunger strike
Meanwhile, the Opposition-backed Secretariat Action Council staged a hunger strike demanding urgent steps to disburse the salaries. Inaugurating the protest, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the United Democratic Front (UDF) is not surprised by the delay. It had foreseen and warned of this scenario through two white papers on State finances. Mr. Satheesan accused the Finance Minister — who had attributed the problem to “technical issues” — of misleading the employees regarding the reasons for the delay. The empty treasury stands testimony to the financial mismanagement by the Left government, he said.
Congress-backed State Employees and Teachers Organisation staged a protest outside the Government Guest House here where the Finance Minister hosted a lunch for the Finance department officials who had helped prepare the State Budget for the 2024-25 fiscal.
Secretariat Action Council convener Irshad M.S. said the council’s hunger strike will continue as more than half the employees were yet to receive their salaries.
