The Odisha government has issued an order directing departments to enforce court-mandated maintenance payments by making deductions from the salaries of employees who default on their obligations. According to reports from The Times of India, the move aims to ensure that beneficiaries receive financial support on time and that court orders are implemented without prolonged delays. Under the new direction issued by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, employees who fail to make court-mandated payments could have the specified amount deducted directly from their monthly salaries. Once a concerned department receives a valid court order directing an employee to pay maintenance or alimony, the departmental Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) will deduct the prescribed amount from the employee's monthly salary.
The deducted amount will then be transferred electronically to the bank account of the estranged wife or children concerned. As reported by The Times of India, the Odisha government has directed that such cases be integrated into the state's centralised Human Resource Management System (HRMS) to enable automated compliance and reduce delays. This means the employee's financial obligation, once covered by a court order, can directly affect the amount of salary available to them each month, with the government tracking such cases based on complaints received from beneficiaries. The process will be automated through Odisha's HRMS, ensuring payments go out quickly and smoothly.
According to the Chief Minister's Office, the decision followed complaints from women who said they were not receiving maintenance or alimony despite court orders. As reported by The Times of India, the CMO receives around two to three such complaints during the chief minister's grievance hearings on average, involving male government employees who allegedly failed to provide maintenance even after divorce. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has taken a firm position on employees failing to comply with judicial directions, maintaining that a public employee cannot disregard a court order requiring financial support for their wife or children. The move comes after Chief Minister Majhi received repeated complaints about unpaid maintenance, prompting the government to implement this new enforcement mechanism.
For an affected government employee, the most immediate impact will be on monthly disposable income. Instead of the employee separately transferring the court-ordered amount to the beneficiary, the specified sum will be deducted from the salary and transferred by the department. The mechanism could also reduce the possibility of accumulated unpaid maintenance becoming a larger financial liability, as payments would be made through the salary system once the relevant court order is received. The automated process ensures that payments are made consistently without requiring manual intervention.
The order reinforces that court-ordered maintenance or alimony is a financial obligation that cannot simply be ignored. Employees subject to such orders will need to account for the mandated payment when planning their monthly finances, since the amount will be deducted from their salary once the department receives the relevant court order. The government said it would also track such cases based on complaints received from beneficiaries, with the order applying only to government employees according to the information provided. The new rule ensures that families receive the support they are owed through a systematic and automated enforcement mechanism, providing greater financial security to women and children who depend on court-ordered maintenance.
