Sarpanch : Maharashtra govt to make first citizen of village more powerful

Mumbai, August 21, 2019 : The state government has taken various decisions for the empowerment of Sarpanchs in last five years for encouraging them to carry on their work with full devotion and develop the villages. The first citizen of village will now directly be elected from the people. Their honorarium has been raised and now they will be administered the oath of office and secrecy. The policy is being welcome at all levels.

Raise in honorarium of Sarpanchs and their  deputies

The decision for raising the honorarium of Sarpanchs has been taken and similarly honorarium will also be given to vice- Sarpanchs. This decision was recently taken in the Cabinet meeting of the Maharashtra state. 27 thousand 854 Sarpanch from the state and equal number of the deputy sarpanchs will get the benefit of honorarium from 1st July 2019. The criteria for giving the honorarium will be based on the population of the gram panchayat. The sarpanchs of the villages having population up to two thousand will get the honorarium of rupess 3000  instead of the present rupees one thousand. The sarpanchs of villages where the population is  between 2001 to 8000, will be given honorarium of rupees four thousand instead of the present 1500 rupees and the sarpanchs elected from the villages where population is more than eight thousand,  will get 5000 Rupees as honorarium, instead of the present 2000 rupees.

 The honorarium of the vice Sarpanchs will also be based on the same criteria of population of the gram panchayat. one thousand, 15 hundred and two thousand will be  the honorarium given to vice-sarpanches. Rupees 200 crores have been sanctioned in the additional budget of the state government for meeting the expenses of honorarium of Sarpanchs. The sarpanch who are striving hard for the development of rural areas will get a boost due to this decision.

Direct election from the people

The law has been amended by the Maharashtra government for election of Sarpanch directly from among the people. This will enable the sarpanchs to work continuously for five years with all might. Till now, the sarpanchs were elected by the members of the gram panchayat but now they will be directly elected from among the people. Till last year, nine thousand 395 Gram Panchayat Sarpanchs were directly elected from among the people.

Sarpanchs will take oath of office and secrecy

 From the objective of encouraging the sarpanchs and providing dignity to their post, they will be administered the Oath of office and secrecy after their elections. This important decision was taken by the rural development department, recently. Now the sarpanchs will also take the oath at par with ministers, legislatures and members of parliament and this will boost their morale and help them to work with enthusiasm.

Ownership buildings for gram panchayat

The “Balasaheb Thackeray Smruti Matoshri Gram Panchayat Bandini scheme” has been started in the state for providing independent building of ownership to the gram panchayats. After the construction of the building, the sarpanchs will get office for their day to day work. Such buildings will be constructed in four thousand 252 gram panchayats in the state, where they do not have their own buildings.