More services coming to panchayats, panel to look into salary woes

BENGALURU: With the State Government keen on taking several citizen-friendly services to villages, the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department has decided to streamline its administration, including disbursement of staff salaries, on time. 

There are over 6,000 gram panchayats in Karnataka. In order to empower them, the government has proposed to give panchayats the power to issue several essential certificates such as birth and death, income and caste certificates, khatas and occupancy certificates to citizens. At present, residents have to go to their respective taluk centres to avail these services.

This will mean more work for panchayat employees. There have, however, been complaints of panchayat employees not getting paid on time. “We don’t get paid for months... We have even protested several times in the past,” a panchayat employee told The New Indian Express.  “It is wrong to give them more work and not pay them on time. If they protest, the entire administration will collapse,’’ RDPR Department sources said. 

In order to look into timely disbursement of salaries to panchayat staff, a committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the RDPR commissioner. It has been asked to work towards ensuring that the employees are paid before the fifth of every month and disburse pending salaries. The committee has also been asked to study whether funds can be allotted for the last rites of panchayat employees who die in harness. 

When contacted, RDPR Minister K S Eshwarappa said, “New panchayat members were elected just a few months ago. They are keen to implement development works and utilising the allotted funds. The department employees play an important role in implementing government programmes and the newly-elected members should bear this in mind. The committee will look into various issues to help streamline the administration. We have told them to submit a report within three months.”

The New Indian Express had earlier highlighted the plight of panchayat employees who don’t get paid on time. There are over 50,000 people working in various posts like bill collector, waterman, data operator and attender. Most of them were working throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns, reaching out to people in distress, creating awareness in villages on the pandemic and supplying health kits to villagers.