Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Mar 17: The honorarium of over 30,000 Sarpanches and Panches in Jammu and Kashmir has been pending for the last five months, despite the fact that these public representatives have been working tirelessly to implement the central government’s flagship programs in the absence of an elected Government.
Targeted attacks on elected panchayat members continue in Kashmir, the latest being the killing of Sarpanch Shabir Ahmad Mir of Adoura in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, who was shot dead by militants late Friday evening. This is the third such killing in the last two weeks.
Scores of these local body representatives told the Excelsior that, while the administration claims to be strengthening the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Jammu and Kashmir, the government’s disregard for these institutions is demonstrated by the delay in releasing the honorarium.
“Despite repeated government assurances that low-paid public representatives will be paid on time, the honorarium of Panchs and Sarpanchs has been delayed for the last five months,” Ghulam Hassan Wani, President of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Movement, told Excelsior.
He continued that, in the absence of an elected government, these local representatives have been working hard to carry out the central government’s primary programs, but the Government is not taking them seriously. They claimed that, while the honorarium was not much, it would have given the Sarpanch’s family confidence in their ability to serve the people if it had been paid on a regular basis. “The panch receives a pittance of 1000 rupees per month, while the Sarpachs receive 3000 rupees per month. We are already struggling to make ends meet on such a low income, and waiting any longer will make things even more difficult for us,” Nisar Ahamd, a Sarpanch, said.
The Sarpanchs said while the government claims that granting authorities and funding will strengthen the PR system, the funds were not allocated in the same manner. For example, they said, some of the Sarpamchs’ honorariums are outstanding since 2016. “The outstanding sum of around Rs 9 crores was needed to pay their salaries, but they were deficient by Rs 2-crores,” another sarpanch said.
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