Mumbai: Governance in Maharashtra’s villages has come to a standstill owing to a three-day statewide strike, the call for which was issued by gram panchayat functionaries. As a result, services including water and power supply, sanitation and data collection have ground to a halt in villages across the state’s 36 districts.
The call for the strike was issued under the banner of Maharashtra Rajya Gram Panchayat Kamgar Sena which claims to have the backing of as many as 60,000 gram panchayat functionaries.
The strike by sarpanches and data operators, among others affiliated with the state’s 27,920 gram panchayats, began Monday and will continue till 20 December. Those on strike are demanding pay parity — remuneration equal to that of panchayat samiti and zilla parishad functionaries.
“We provide services similar to what a zilla parishad or (municipal) corporation functionary provides. But why are we getting a minimum salary is our question,” Vilas Kumarwar, president of the Maharashtra Rajya Gram Panchayat Kamgar Sena, told ThePrint.
He added, “We have hence stopped all services in 27,000 villages across Maharashtra. All sarpanch, gram sevaks are supporting us.”
Kumarwar also threatened an indefinite strike if the state government does not decide on their demands by Wednesday.
ThePrint reached state Panchayati Raj Minister Girish Mahajan over phone for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
According to Kumarwar, the average monthly salary of a gram panchayat functionary — Rs 11,625 — has remained unchanged since 2020. This is lower than what a zilla parishad, panchayat samiti or nagar parishad functionary earns, he added.
He further explained that the average salary of a gram panchayat functionary in the state was Rs 5,100 from 2013 till August 2020, when the state government hiked it to Rs 11,625. However, the increase in salaries only began to reflect in April 2022, which is why those on strike are also demanding arrears from the government, Kumarwar added.
“How will we survive on such a meagre salary, especially when we have to care for old people, and pay for our children’s education,” Ganesh Kolse, the sarpanch of Nirgudi village in Wardha district, told ThePrint.
Though their primary demand is pay parity, those on strike are also demanding a pension scheme and the creation of an employee provident fund (EPF) to safeguard their future. Another demand is for the government to appoint gram panchayat functionaries to 10 percent of vacant Class III and Class IV posts in zilla parishads.
“Villages are now more developed and the share of people living in them has also gone up. So we now have more work but our salaries and numbers are still the same. This should also be looked into,” said Kumarwar.
Kolse added that the government is yet to respond to the demands.
“We even went to Mantralaya (State Secretariat) yesterday (Monday). The government should at least call us for some dialogue,” he said.
On Monday, Jayant Patil, state president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by Sharad Pawar, on the floor of the state legislature advised the government to resolve the strike without wasting any time. “Citizens are inconvenienced because of this strike. I request the government to take action and give justice to all those functionaries,” he said.
Similar demands were raised in the House by MLAs of various opposition parties Tuesday.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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