Thousands of gram panchayat workers held dharna near the Collectorates in their respective districts, except in Hyderabad, demanding their salaries which were not paid since December.
The workers cooked food at dharna camps and stayed day long after boycotting work under the aegis of Telangana Gram Panchayat Employees and Workers Union, affiliated to CPI (M). Union president Paladugu Bhaskar said it was decided to serve strike notice on the government if the pay was not released. A joint action committee of all unions would be formed on Sunday to steer the agitation.
The gram panchayat workers were paid a honorarium of ₹8,500 per month from Fifth Finance Commission and State Finance Commission funds. But, officials said the payments could not be made for the last four months due to non-release of funds.
A worker K. Babu (32) committed suicide due to financial problems at the gram panchayat office of Bibipet in Kamareddy district on Sunday. Union leaders participated in his funeral on Monday at the village wearing black badges.
The workers performed multiple roles of sanitation, watering trees, driving tractors of panchayats, collecting garbage from households and clearing sewer lines in villages. Beside payment of arrears, the unions demanded withdrawal of multiple tasks assigned to them. They should be treated as regular employees of the government and extended 30 % fitment in salaries in the wake of implementation of Pay Revision Commission recommendations
In some panchayats where the workers were in excess of sanctioned strength, they shared the government releases at ₹8,500 per head among themselves. Instances of gram panchayats issuing cheques to workers that bounced on presentation at banks due to lack of balance in accounts came to fore in Mahabubnagar district, leaders said. There are some 50,00 workers at 12,751 panchayats across the State.
