New Delhi: Government think-tank NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar and its members have decided to take a salary cut of 30 percent for a year in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, an official statement issued by NITI Aayog said on Wednesday. Bibek Debroy, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has also decided to take a 30 percent salary cut for a year. "In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and to shore up the government''s efforts to battle the national crisis, vice-chairman and members of NITI Aayog and chairman of the EAC-PM have voluntarily decided to take a salary cut of 30 percent for a year," the statement said. The money will be contributed to the PM Citizens'' Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation (PM-CARES) fund, it added.

"In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and to shore up the government''s efforts to battle the national crisis, vice-chairman and members of NITI Aayog and chairman of the EAC-PM have voluntarily decided to take a salary cut of 30 percent for a year,"- NITI Aayog

The Union government has set up a public charitable trust under the name of the PM-CARES Fund in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairman of the trust and its members include defence, home and finance ministers.