Opposition parties Congress and BJP had asked the Governor not to give his nod to the ordinance. The Opposition said that Kerala government was taking revenge on employees after it suffered a serious setback in the court.

The government was forced to bring the ordinance after the Kerala High Court stayed its order to slash employees’ salaries for six days every month for the next five months (totalling 30 days). Reeling under severe financial constraints, the government is planning to save Rs 2,000 crore through this.

“It is sad that a big controversy was created over this. It should have been avoided at this juncture. Opposition also provoked employees’ outfits,” said state finance minister Thomas Issac welcoming the Governor’s decision and adding that it was a temporary arrangement.

The government order issued to that effect last week said the move will be applicable to employees of all state- owned enterprises, public sector undertakings, quasi-government organisations and universities, among others.

“All are undergoing a difficult situation. So it is natural that employees will also be a part of the process. We have deducted 30% salaries of ministers, MLAs, board chairmen and others for one year,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday.

Announcing the cabinet decision, Isaac had told mediapersons on Wednesday: “As per this ordinance, the state government has been empowered to defer 25% of the salary of government employees, in case of a disaster.”

The minister, however, made it clear that 25 per cent of the salary would not be deferred and the state government would go ahead with its initial six-day cut plan.

The employees’ outfits have, meawhile, said they will move the Supreme Court against the ordinance.

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“There is overwhelming evidence that more and more people have run out of cash and are forced to stand in lines to collect free cooked food. Only a heartless government will stand by and do nothing,” Chidambaram said on Twitter.

He then asked two questions: “Why cannot government save them from hunger AND protect their dignity by transferring cash to every poor family? Why can’t government distribute, free of cost, a small part of the 77 million tonnes of grain with FCI to families who need the grain to feed themselves?”

And then targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “These two questions are both economic and moral questions. @narendramodi and @nsitharaman have failed to answer both questions, as the nation watches helplessly,” Chidambaram said in his third and final tweet.

The tweets come nearly a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extension of nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus disease Covid-19. The initial 21-day lockdown, which was scheduled to end on April 14, was extended till May 3.

The central government then announced a slew of measures, which are aimed at benefiting the poor and restarting the economy stalled due to the lockdown. Many small enterprises have been given permission to resume work an labourer-based service allowed. The relaxations are coming into effect from Monday.

The Congress has repeatedly sought the ramping up of Covid-19 testing and personal protection equipment (PPEs) for health workers. It has also urged the government to spell out steps it plans to take to mitigate the woes of migrant labourers and farmers waiting to harvest their crops.

On Saturday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi constituted an 11-member consultative group under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s leadership to deliberate on matters related to the Covid-19 pandemic and to formulate the party’s views on them. Chidambaram is part of that group.

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