The Assam government said it would release the salary of the state government employees for the month of April, but is still unsure about the salaries in May. Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said the state may not be able to pay salaries of its employees for May if it does not get financial support from outside.

“For now we can pay the salaries but only after the first week of May. But if we do not get financial support outside our predictable resources of our state, it will be difficult to reopen the state’s treasury in June,” Sarma said on Monday.

He, however, added that already the Union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, had assured him of all assistance in the future.

He said as a state, the government can put taxes only on petrol, diesel and liquor. But it doesn’t want to affect the people, who are already hit by the pandemic.