With just a day left for the beginning of the month, various associations of government employees are hoping that at least a component of the salary be paid in cash to tackle the situation which has emerged due to demonetisation.
“Most of the house owners are demanding rent in cash and how are we expected to pay? Monthly provisions, groceries and other supplies need payment in cash and if the government pays at least a component of the salary in cash, it would be really helpful,” Tamil Nadu Government Employees Association (TNGEA) general secretary R. Balasubramanian said.
Asked whether they have made any representations to the State government, he said, “When we made the representation, officials told us that it can be decided only by the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India. By this time, processes would have been completed to electronically credit the salary into our accounts.”
If the situation continued, resulting in more hardships for government employees, his association would discuss the future course of action to tackle the situation.
As for government employees working in offices located within the Secretariat campus in Chennai, representatives of Tamil Nadu Secretariat Association (TNSA) are in talks with the Finance Department and bankers to credit at least a component of the salary in cash.
“We have been raising this demand since November 16. We are doing our best and hoping for the best so that basic payments can be made,” J. Ganesan, president of TNSA, said.
During a meeting with officials and bankers on Tuesday, there has been some hope but the final outcome would be known only on Wednesday.
“There are around 5,500 employees in the Assembly campus and over 2,500 of them have accounts with a nationalised bank. We are in talks with the bank to make some arrangements since we certainly cannot manage with the withdrawal limit of Rs. 2,000 in cash per day,” he said.
