13K sarpanches' tenure ends in Punjab, but monthly honorarium not paid for at least five years

Aman Sood

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Patiala, August 12

Though the term of around 13,240 sarpanches has come to an end, successive state governments have reportedly failed to release their honorarium for the past five years, which should have been paid every month.

Will use panchayat funds

It has been decided that the panchayats which cannot pay the monthly honorarium will get the government support, others will pay from the panchayat funds. Gurpreet Singh Khaira, Director, Rural Development and Panchayats

Yesterday, the Rural Development and Panchayats Department had dissolved the Panchayati Raj Institutions and decided to appoint administrators.

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that the previous and incumbent government didn’t clear the arrears or paid monthly honorarium to the sarpanches.

“We should have been paid Rs 1,200 per month. My dues stand at Rs 72,000 for the past five years,” said an outgoing sarpanch. Recently, members of the Punjab Panchayat Union held a protest and urged the government to raise honorarium of a sarpanch and panch to Rs 25,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively.

“We spend more than Rs 500 on tea and snacks daily as villagers visit us to get their issues resolved. Government officials ask us to accompany them. No government is concerned about us,” said a member of the Punjab Panchayat Union.

In 2021, during the fag end of the Congress government, Bhagwant Mann had demanded that the Charanjit Singh Channi-led government should pay an honorarium of at least Rs 25,000 per month to each sarpanch.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a sarpanch said they end up spending between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 50 lakh during elections. “The government must pay the expenses. On an average, a sarpanch spends over Rs 200 per day from his own pocket,” he said.

Gurpreet Singh Khaira, Director, Rural Development and Panchayats Department, said the government had decided that the sarpanches should get the monthly honorarium from their respective panchayats.

“Finance Minister Harpal Cheema has approved the file. While the panchayats which cannot pay the monthly honorarium will get the government support, others will pay from the panchayat funds,” said Khaira, adding that the arrears would be cleared once the cases pending in the courts get settled.