Bhubaneswar, March 13 Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday increased the remuneration and allowances paid to the representatives in the three-tier Panchayati Raj system in the state.
For Zilla Parishads in the state, the monthly remuneration of presidents has been enhanced to Rs 30,000 from the existing Rs 9,380. Vice presidents, who are currently getting Rs 7,040, will now get Rs 20,000 per month. Members will get Rs 10,000 in place of Rs 3,530.
The Daily Allowances (DA) and Sitting Fee (SF) charges of the representatives have also been doubled to Rs 600 per month from the existing Rs 300, the Chief Minister's office said in a statement.
For Panchayat Samitis, the state government has enhanced the remuneration of chairmans from Rs 3,530 to Rs 15,000 while the remuneration of vice chairmans and members has been increased to Rs 7,500 against the current monthly salary of Rs 2,350.
Sarpanchs, who are currently getting Rs 2,350, will now receive Rs 10,000 while naib sarpanchs' monthly remuneration has been hiked from Rs 940 to Rs 4,000 per month.
The DA and SF of chairman, vice chairman, members, sarpanchs, naib sarapanchs and ward members have been raised to Rs 480 per month from the existing Rs 240.
The state exchequer was earlier spending Rs 79.88 crore for paying the remuneration and allowances of the representatives in the three-tier Panchayati Raj system. The expenditure will now go up to Rs 242.56 crore following the enhancement by the state government.
The state government has also announced that the family members of Panchayati Raj representatives will be provided ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakhs if the representatives pass away during their incumbency.
The representatives will get financial assistance of Rs 2 lakhs in case of permanent disability (irrecoverable loss of eyes, hands and feet) and Rs 1 lakh in case of partial physical disability (irrecoverable loss of one eye, one hand or one leg) due to any accident while in office.
In another significant decision, Chief Minister Patnaik announced that the women employees working in various departments of the state government can now avail annual casual leave for 25 days instead of 15 days allowed to all the government employees every year.
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