Odisha to deduct maintenance from salaries of govt employees who default on court orders

The Odisha government has decided to directly deduct court-ordered maintenance and alimony payments from the salaries of government employees who fail to pay their wives or children, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said on Sunday.

Under the new mechanism, departmental drawing and disbursing officers (DDOs) will deduct the amount specified by family courts from the monthly salaries of employees who default on court-ordered payments. The deducted amount will then be transferred electronically to the bank accounts of the employees’ wives or children.

The decision comes after the state government received repeated complaints during the Chief Minister’s public grievance hearings. According to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), two to three complaints related to non-payment of maintenance were being raised at each hearing.

“There are government employees in the state who are committing contempt of court and, at the same time, doing injustice to their wives and children. This is absolutely unacceptable to the state government,” Majhi said.

Under the new guidelines, once a family court orders a government employee to pay maintenance or alimony, the court-ordered amount will be incorporated into the employee’s monthly salary bill. The DDO concerned will then ensure that the specified amount is deducted before the salary is disbursed.

The government said the system is aimed at preventing employees from evading their legal obligations and ensuring that maintenance reaches the intended beneficiaries without unnecessary delays.

The mechanism will also be integrated into Odisha’s Human Resource Management System (HRMS), the state’s automated platform for managing government employees. The integration is expected to make implementation of court orders more systematic and reduce delays in processing maintenance payments.

The CMO said the move was prompted by cases in which government employees allegedly failed to comply with family court orders despite being legally required to make regular payments.

Officials said the new arrangement would also reduce the burden on women and children who currently may have to repeatedly approach authorities or pursue defaulting employees to receive court-ordered maintenance.

The Odisha government expects the salary-based deduction system to strengthen compliance with judicial orders while providing a more direct and reliable mechanism for delivering financial support to eligible wives and children.