UP Assembly Elections 2021: Yogi Govt to Shower Monetary Rewards on 8.84 Lakh Gram Panchayat Representatives Today

UP Assembly Elections 2021: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will announce these gifts at a conference of 1.25 lakh Panchayat representatives of the state at the Defense Expo Ground.

Lucknow: Political parties are pulling out all the possible stops to woo the electorate in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled for early next year. And, the ruling-BJP party has left no stone unturned to boost its poll prospects too. In one such bid, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday will shower over 8 lakhs gram panchayat representatives with monetary rewards. As per reports, the chief minister will shower gifts on the 8,84,225 three-tier Gram Panchayat representatives during the ‘UP Gram Utkarsh Samaroh’ today. The Chief Minister will announce these gifts at a conference of 1.25 lakh Panchayat representatives of the state at the Defense Expo Ground.

During the programme, CM Yogi will also reportedly announce an increase in the monthly honorarium given to village heads, blockheads, district panchayat presidents, and an increase in allowances for attending meetings of district panchayat members, area panchayat members, and gram panchayat members. Meanwhile,  there is also a preparation to announce the increase in the administrative and financial powers of the Panchayats. The state government will also provide financial assistance ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh to the dependents on the death of elected representatives. Sources said that a uniform increase of Rs 1,500 per month has been agreed in the honorarium of village heads, blockheads, and district panchayat presidents.

Awards for over 8 lakh gram panchayat representatives

• District Panchayat President — 75
• Kshetra Panchayat Chief — 826
• Village head — 58,189
• Zilla Panchayat Member — 3121
• Kshetra Panchayat Member — 77788
• Gram Panchayat Member — 7,44,226

Hike in Honorarium Amount

The honorarium of pradhans will be increased from Rs 3,500 to Rs 5,000, that of Kshetra Panchayat chiefs from Rs 9,800 to Rs 11,300, and that of district panchayat presidents from Rs 14,000 to Rs 15,500. Similarly, it has been agreed to increase the allowances to Zilla Panchayat members and Kshetra Panchayat members by Rs 500 per meeting. And, the per meeting allowance of Zila Panchayat members is being increased from Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 and that of Kshetra Panchayat members from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 per sitting allowance.

Allowance for Attending Meetings to Gram Panchayat members

For the first time ever, the UP government has also announced per meeting allowance for Gram Panchayat members. They will be given an allowance of Rs 100 per sitting. Calculation of allowance per meeting of member district panchayat and area panchayat will be done on the basis of six meetings in a year and 12 meetings of the member village panchayat in a year. Under the State Finance Commission, there is a provision of Rs 6600 crore for the Panchayats of the state in the financial year 2021-22. 10 percent of this is Rs 660 crore. Some expenditure on the proposed increase will be kept under its purview.

Financial Assistance to Dependents

The UP state government has also decided to provide financial assistance to the dependents of three-tier panchayat representatives on their death while in office. For this, a Panchayat Welfare Fund of Rs 50 crore will be set up. There is a plan to provide assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the dependents on the death of the village head, blockhead, and district panchayat president while in office. An amount of Rs. 5 lakhs on the death of the member district panchayat, Rs. 3 lakhs on the death of the member area panchayat and Rs. 2 lakhs on the death of the member village panchayat.

Financial Rights

• After approval by the Gram Panchayats of the state in the meeting of the Gram Sabha every year about 37 to 38 lakh developmental works are included in its action plan. Hence, it is proposed to increase the administrative, financial and technical limits of works of Panchayats at various levels from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
• There is a provision to approve the estimates of district panchayats above 10 lakhs from the government level. The 10 lakh limit was fixed in July 2015. An announcement will be made to increase this limit to 25 lakhs.
• At present, Panchayats take action to get the estimate made and technical approval from the nominated engineer in the development block. Now, in addition to the designated engineer in the development block, panchayats will be able to take action to get the estimates made in the districts from Public Works, Rural Engineering, District Panchayat, Housing and Development, Irrigation, Mandi Parishad, Minor Irrigation, Agriculture, Jal Nigam’s Junior Engineer and Assistant Engineer and get technical approval.