Punjab nambardars await honorarium, threaten stir
Sameer Singh
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, August 1
Its members unpaid for the past almost six months, the Punjab Nambardar Union has threatened to launch a statewide stir, if the government failed to clear their pending dues at the earliest.
There are around 35,000 nambardars working with the Revenue Department in villages across the state at a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,500. While a majority of them have been awaiting six-month payments, there are many who haven’t been paid since November last.
Apart from the delay in payments, the nambardars have been demanding early issuance of a government notification (as announced in February this year) to increase their honorarium to Rs 2,000. The hike is learnt to have been agreed upon at a meeting that Punjab Revenue Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar had with the union representatives.
The decision to tread on protest path was taken by the union at its recent meeting in Mansa. Union state president Surjit Singh Nanhera said they would intensify their activities once Covid subsided. “Our representatives met the Revenue Minister in Chandigarh in February. We again brought the matter to his notice 15 days ago in Bathinda. But all we have got so far are hollow assurances,” he said.
Darshan Singh, union secretary general, said how long could they go without honorarium. “Whenever we approach the authorities, they rebuff us citing empty coffers,” he maintained.
Mansa unit president Amritpal Singh Gurne said nambardars had been playing a significant role in checking the Covid spread in villages. “We have been providing crucial updates to the administration on Covid. Nambardars play a vital role with the police in maintaining law and order in rural pockets,” he said. Kangar said he would check with his department why the payments were delayed.
