The Assam government willrelease the full salary of last month to all its employees by April 9, state Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday.Earlier, the government was considering to hold back 20 per cent of the salaries to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, the minister said at a press conference here."Following discussions with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, we decided to release the full salary to each government employee and pensioner," he said.The minister also appealed to all government employees to help at least five poor families in their neighbourhood during the lockdown."We have not touched the salaries of the employees but it is my humble appeal that each government employee helps at least five families affected by the crisis arising due to the lockdown," the minister said.The main Assamese festival Bohag Bihu is round the corner but as there will be no celebrations due to the restrictions, "It is my appeal to consider providing help to the poor and needy which will be best 'bihuwan' (gift) under the circumstances," Sarma said.The Bihu organisations had announced that they would not organise Bihu functions this year due to the outbreak of COVID-19.Meanwhile, employees' organisation Sadou Asom Karmachari Parishad (SAKP) has decided to donate one day's salary to the Assam Arogya Nidhi and this amount will be used to build at least one pre-fabricated COVID-19 hospital in the state, Sarma said.However, this donation will be entirely voluntary, he said.Sarma said that the Assam government has decided to extend the Rs 50 lakh health insurance announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doctors, nurses and health workers to 108 ambulance service workers and 104 call centre employees.The prime minister had announced that ASHA workers would be given an additional Rs 1,000 for three months and the state government has also decided to extend this facility to the 108 ambulance service workers, he said.The doctors and nurses attending to COVID-19 patients in the hospitals in Guwahati will be quarantined for 14 days, after their week-long duty, at a hotel here and the government will bear the expenses.He also urged people in the state to whole-heartedly respond to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to switch off lights and light earthen lamps or candles at 9 pm on Sunday to display the country's "collective resolve" to defeat coronavirus.
