Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has put on hold the surrender and encashment of leave till November 30 citing financial constraints triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The order issued by the government stated that the periodical surrender of earned leave by government employees and teachers including those on temporary appointments stands deferred for six months.
It may be recalled that the government had earlier issued the order in November 2020, freezing leave surrender till May 31, 2021.
According to the government, the decision has been taken in view of the financial crunch being experienced by the state and the requirement of urgent funds for fighting Covid -19. The order is applicable to all the bills pending with the treasury as on the date of the order. It said the encashment orders sanctioned earlier stood cancelled and the earned leave would be re-credited in the leave account of employees.
The order issued by the finance department is applicable to employees universities, grant-in-aid institutions, autonomous bodies, welfare boards, statutory undertakings, apex societies and PSUs.
Meanwhile, the order will not be made applicable to last-grade staff including office attendants, part-time contingent employees and municipal contingenet employees.