2,500 group secretaries unpaid for 18 months, march from Sambhajinagar to Mumbai

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Around 2,500 group secretaries serving in rural cooperative societies critical for distributing crop loans have gone without salaries for the past 18 months to two years. The delay stems from stalled loan recovery after the state government promised a farm loan waiver.

These primary agricultural credit cooperative societies fund group secretaries’ salaries from 2% of recovered loan amounts. But ahead of the assembly polls, political parties assured loan write-offs, prompting nearly half of the state’s farmers to stop repayments. With recovery at a standstill, societies lack funds to pay even meagre wages. Retired group secretaries, too, have not received pending dues. Many say they are struggling to run their households. Association president Ravindra Kale began a protest march on foot from Kranti Chowk to Mumbai, demanding an updated pay scale linked to the cost-of-living index and a dedicated salary fund on Saturday. A delegation plans to submit a memorandum to the chief minister and the cooperation minister on reaching the state secretariat.