Punjab ministers pledge to donate three months' salaries to CM COVID-19 Relief Fund

In view of the coronavirus crisis, all the ministers in Punjab on Thursday, April 16 decided not to draw salaries for three months and donate the same to the Chief Minister's COVID-19 Relief Fund.

According to reports, Punjab is running into revenue losses worth Rs 22,000 crores. This decision was taken during a meeting of the state finance sub-committee, chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh who took stock of the fiscal implications of the COVID-19 crisis. 

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Major Revenue Losses Expected

According to reports, out of the Rs 88,000 crore revenue receipts that were estimated to be raised by the state for the FY 2020, now only Rs 60,000 crore can be generated. Further, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh has appealed to all the government employees in public sector undertakings, local bodies, boards, and corporations to donate a share of their pay and allowance to the CM COVID Relief Fund. 

Along with it, the Chief Secretary has reportedly suggested that all the grade A and grade B employees should contribute 30% of the salaries, while grade C and Grade D employees should contribute 20% and 10% respectively for the next three months to make up for the losses. 

Currently, in Punjab, there are a total of 197 positive cases of Coronavirus, out of which 29 have reportedly been recovered, while 14 people have been reported to have died. 

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Coronavirus Crisis in India 

According to the latest update of the Union Health Ministry, there are currently a total of 12,759 cases of coronavirus in the country including about 10,824 active cases. While 420 deaths have been reported overall, around 1,515 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

While countries around the world are struggling to contain the spread of the deadly virus, India has been successful in limiting the scope of infection by imposing an early lockdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3 in order to contain the spread of COVID-19. 

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