THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Brushing aside protests by the opposition and staff associations, the Kerala cabinet on Wednesday decided to go ahead with a proposal to cut a month’s salary of all government employees drawing more than Rs 20,000, including doctors and nurses, in five equal installments from May to September. This works out to a deduction of six days’ pay each month.CM Pinarayi Vijayan said the government was “not in a position to heed the protests” against the proposed pay cut. “Proportionate salary for six days of a month will be deducted. In this fashion, 30 days’ salary will be cut over five months. This will be applicable to state government employees, teachers, university staff and workers of all state public sector units and government undertakings. However, employees drawing less than Rs 20,000 a month are exempted.”Seeking the “wholehearted cooperation” of all employees, Vijayan said willingness or refusal to give up a portion of their salaries for five months was immaterial in the context of the financial crisis brought upon the state by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.Salaries and honorarium of ministers, MLAs, board members and elected members of local self-government institutions would be slashed by 30% for a year.However, considering the nature of work that Asha workers carry out to collect Covid-related data from households, the government will give them an additional incentive of Rs 1,000 each a month, the CM said. As many as 26,475 Asha workers will benefit from the decision.The state medical officers’ association and the medical college teachers’ association had appealed to the government to exempt health professionals from the salary cut and warned of protests if it did otherwise.“Health professionals are the frontline warriors against the pandemic. The government’s move to cut their salaries at a time when they are engaged in selfless service is highly deplorable,” the medical officers’ association said in a statement.Former CM Oommen Chandy had spoken out against the move to cut salaries of health workers.