Punjab: Sarpanches to get pending honorarium before November 12

Punjab: The state’s sarpanchs’ decade-long wait for their honorarium is soon coming to an end. Uma Shankar Gupta, Director-cum-Special Secretary of the Rural and Panchayat Department, has directed the state’s Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), District Development and Panchayat Officers, and Block Development and Panchayat Officers to pay the sarpanches their honorarium for the period 2013 to 2023 by November 12th and submit a compliance report to the headquarters. This move comes after the Punjab and Haryana High Court heard a petition from a Panchayat Association, directing the department to pay the outstanding amount before the next hearing on November 13th. The honorarium of over 3,000 sarpanches—₹1,200 per month—is pending, and these are mostly panchayats with no other source of income. The aggrieved sarpanches say they have to spend over ₹500 daily on tea and snacks because of the influx of people coming to them for work. Government officials even ask us to accompany them to villages. Mohali’s DDPO, Parambir Kaur, said, “Some sarpanches were partially paid in 2016-17. All remaining dues will be paid before November 12th.” The Director of the Rural Development and Panchayats Department, in a demi-official letter issued on November 7th, stated that panchayats with their own income should pay salaries to sarpanches, while those with no other source of income should receive honorariums from the funds of the Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had promised in its manifesto to increase the honorarium of sarpanches to ₹20,000 per month and to pay honorarium to panchs, but this has not been done yet. Ravinder Singh Rinku Gurne, president of the Panchayat Union Punjab, who filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said that sarpanches are having to repeatedly approach the courts even to receive a mere honorarium of ₹1,200 per month. He said, “The state government should increase the honorarium of Sarpanchs to Rs 20,000 and that of Panchs to Rs 10,000 as per the election promise and start paying them salaries immediately.”