The government on Saturday said an office order of the finance minister's Department of Expenditure deferring payment of June's salary to July is only applicable to a specific office attached to the department.

In a clarification over a confidential government order regarding the salaries of government employees for June, a finance ministry statement said: "It is clarified and informed that the Department of Expenditure's Order dated 18th June 2019 relating to the disbursal of salary for the month of June 2019 is applicable to only an attached office under the Department of Expenditure, namely the O/o Controller General of Accounts (CGA) and the officials working in the PFMS Project Cell and is temporary in nature to avoid exceeding the Vote on Account limit."

The vote on account is an interim permission to spend money as against a full Budget, which is an elaborate financial statement of expenditure and receipts.

IANS report titled, 'DoE's Group A and B employees' June salary deferred to July' correctly highlighted the issue of deferred salary payment, but the finance ministry said it is only applicable to an attached office under the Department of Expenditure.