Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced an increase in the meeting fees of Gram Panchayat and Block-level Federation workers under the Mission Shakti programme of the state.
Mission Shakti has become a huge movement in the state and has played an important role in the economic and social empowerment of women. Various village-level and block-level federations have played an important role in this. These federations have a special role to play in implementing the programmes of self-help groups. During the district visits of 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman Karthik Pandian, the workers of Mission Shakti Federation proposed to increase their remuneration in different areas. He discussed the issue with the Chief Minister following which Patnaik decided to increase the amount of their meeting fees.
According to this decision, the meeting fee of the president of Gram Panchayat and block-level federation, secretary, and other working members has been increased by Rs 500. This increased fee will be applicable from October 2023 retroactively.
The president and secretary of block-level federations will now get Rs 4,500 per meeting, compared to Rs 4000 they were getting earlier. Similarly, its other working members will now get Rs 2,500 compared to Rs 2,000 they were getting earlier.
Similarly, the president and secretary of village-level federations will get Rs 2,500 against Rs 2,500 for the meeting and other working members will get Rs 1,500 instead of Rs 1,000.
This will cost the government Rs 249.21 crore per year.
It is worth noting that there are a total of 676 block-level federation presidents and secretaries in the state, while the number of other members is 3042. There are 13,588 presidents and secretaries in Gram Panchayat Federations while the number of other members is 108,704. As such, a total of 1,26,010 employees will be benefited following the rise in their meeting fees.
