Isaac blames software glitch for salary delay

Thiruvananthapuram: Finance minister T M Thomas Isaac allayed fears that June salary was not given to government employees due to fund crunch. He said that salary disbursement was affected due to technical reasons that affected e-Kuber software.
Government employees, who are withdrawing salaries from treasury accounts, have not been affected. Those who are drawing salaries through various bank accounts were affected. The government has approached the Reserve Bank to rectify the technical glitch that happened on its core banking solution e-Kuber, said Isaac.
Salary has been deposited to the treasury and once the technical glitch is rectified, it will be deposited to the respective bank accounts of employees. This technical glitch has occurred in all states, said the finance minister.
While replying to the discussion on Kerala Appropriation Bill in the assembly, the finance minister said it has been decided to act against those who fail to submit GST returns. Till date, no action was taken against defaulters. Now, filing GST returns has been made mandatory. Isaac also made it clear that an enforcement wing will be set up to check tax evasion.
On allegations made by opposition over stopping Karunya benevolent scheme, Isaac said there is no need to worry since all beneficiaries have been included in the new scheme. On the fears over the proceeds received from lottery sales, the minister said the entire amount received from lottery sales will go into the new health insurance scheme.
It is estimated that the government needs Rs 560 crore to pay premium under the new health insurance scheme. This fund will be sourced from lottery sales, he added.
Earlier while participating in the discussion, former chief minister VS Achuthanandan flayed the government’s decision to give judicial powers to the police to set up commissionerates. He also expressed concern over the reports of police highhandedness, including custodial torture.