Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top government figures will take a 30 percent salary cut this year, a government minister said on Monday, as the country tackles the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the economy.
Modi has imposed a three-week lockdown to halt the spread of the virus, but it has left millions without jobs and many of the more vulnerable sections of society struggling for food and shelter.
The federal cabinet has approved a decree under which Modi, along with President Ram Nath Kovind, state governors and members of parliament, will take the salary cut as part of their social responsibility, cabinet minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters.
India has been under a strict lockdown since March 25, halting public transport and closing offices and shops apart from essential services.
But the shutdown has badly hit rural migrant workers, leaving them jobless with hundreds of thousands trying to return to their villages, many on foot. Many others have been blocked from returning home. The government has set up tens of thousands of makeshift camps and feeding centres for them.
According to its Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has recorded 4067 confirmed cases of COVID-19 coronavirus including 109 deaths.
-Agencies
