Two months after the Himachal Government decided to defer 30 per cent salary of top officials for six months, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Jattvibeday directed the Finance Department to withdraw the notification regarding the deferment.Except the Chief Minister, all ministers, MLAs and senior bureaucrats will draw full salary from next month. “The arrears of the deferred salary would be released along with the full pay next month,” the Chief Minister said following a meeting with the Finance Department.In his Budget speech on March 21, Sukhu had announced the deferment of a certain portion of salaries for six months in view of the financial condition of the state. Following the announcement, the salary of the CM was deferred by 50 per cent, Deputy Chief Minster by 30 per cent, and MLAs by 20 per cent. The salaries of top bureaucrats, including the Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, the Director General of Police and senior forest officials were deferred by 30 per cent, while those of secretaries, heads of departments, etc., were deferred by 20 per cent. The decision, effective from April, was announced for six months.Explaining the rollback, Sukhu said: “The financial condition of the state has improved significantly. The state’s economy has shown encouraging results, and it is now steadily moving towards self-reliance.” He further said the government had successfully plugged several loopholes that had led to financial leakages and corruption in the past, thereby strengthening the state’s fiscal position.The CM further directed the Finance Department to release the pending arrears of all pensioners in the 65-70 year age group. “The arrears would be disbursed next month,” he said.Sukhu said following the restoration of the old-pension scheme (OPS), the Centre had withheld financial assistance amounting to Rs 1,200 crore due to the state. “If this amount had not been withheld, the state government would have been in a position to clear the pending arrears of employees. Nevertheless, the state government is sympathetically considering the demands of employees,” he said.