In a bid to prevent infighting in the party ahead of panchyat elections in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday showered elected panchyat members with monthly emoluments.
For the first time, members of the three tier panchyats, who used to be paid on the basis of no-work-no-pay structure, would get salary. Earlier, panchyat, panchyat samity and zilla parishad members used to get Rs 150 per day whenever they would attend meetings or panchyat proceedings. Only the body chief used to get monthly payments.
The government has decided to give Rs 1,500 as monthly salary to members. The salary of three tier bodies chiefs, who used be paid Rs 2,000 every month, has been increased to Rs 3,000. Chief of panchyat samities would get Rs 3,500 (up from Rs 2500) and chief of zilla parishads Rs 5,000 (up from Rs 3,500).
“Members were never getting salary. That’s why they siphoned off money in the past and did lot of corruption. What else would they do?...The Left did nothing for them,” the chief minister said at a workshop for panchyat members in Kolkata. Mamata also brought all panchyat members under the health scheme of the state government.
According to political sources, the CM took this decision keeping in mind the panchyat election to be held next year.
“With this she addressed the issue of infighting in the party at the grassroot level. The lower level partymen have little accountability, particularly in Trinamool Congress,” said a political expert in Kolkata. Most of the panchyats in the state are run by the TMC.
Mamata also declared that her government would construct more cremation grounds and graveyards for people living in the villages and added that the poor will be given Rs 2,000 as funeral cost. Each village would have a burial and cremation ground and each district would have an electric crematorium, she said.
The CM said the decision was taken in order to ensure cleanliness in villages. She, however, did not mention if the money used for these purposes would come from the state’s own budget or under the Union government's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
The move, however, did not go down well with the opposition. “Yes, political killings have reached certain stage in Bengal that she would have to dig more graveyards and make crematoriums for people,” said a general secretary of West Bengal BJP.
