Thiruvananthapuram: IAS officers have asked govt not to deduct the share towards chief minister’s distress relief fund ( CMDRF ) from their salary until a collective decision is taken by all its association members. In a letter to principal secretary (finance), IAS association president B Ashok requested that salary deduction shouldn’t be made applicable for Aug or until the decision is taken and conveyed. The association is likely to meet soon and a collective decision will be taken on the matter soon.
Though chief minister had held talks with other employee organizations seeking a contribution from their salary towards CMDRF, the IAS association was not consulted. Also, there are opinions among members that instead of deducting salary and contributing to CMDRF, the association members could pool in money and hand over a lump sum amount to govt or to an agency like NDMA to be used for Wayanad . Meanwhile, many officers have given their consent for contributing five-day salary towards CMDRF, as Aug 24 was the last day for informing consent to deduct salary.
The salary challenge is to begin from Aug. Some have personally requested not to deduct too. Govt had come up with detailed guidelines on salary deduction of its employees for contribution to CMDRF.
In finance department’s detailed order, the govt said “though it is not mandatory to contribute, no one should keep off from contribution”, making it unclear about what would be the consequence if someone opts out. Em.