The Karnataka State Gram Panchayat Workers’ Association will hold a three-day State-level conference in Mysuru on December 9. The conference will deal with the role of the State and the Centre in strengthening panchayat bodies, said president of the association Maruti Manpade.
Talking to reporters here on Saturday, Mr. Manpade said Karnataka and Kerala governments are the role models in empowerment of panchayat institutions. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will be invited to the conference, he said.
Mr. Manpade said following decades of fight by the association, the State government has, in principle, agreed to bear the salary of ₹829 crore for 56,000 employees in panchayat institutions. The State government was releasing grant of ₹255 crore towards salary of employees in panchayat institutions. With fixation of minimum wages to data entry operators, pump operators, attenders and house keeping staff, the total salary component comes to ₹802 crore, he said.
Mr. Manpade said Mr. Siddaramaiah on October 2 announced the decision of the State government to bear the additional burden of ₹547 crore towards wages of employees. This was a victory of sorts for the association, he said.
Mr. Manpade said the association was fighting for fixation of scale to 36,000 employees whose services in panchayat have been regularised. They are also demanding regularisation of service of the employees working on daily wages, he said.
