By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 11, 2020: Odisha on Thursday has hiked at least 25 per cent in the monthly honorarium of the three-tier panchayati raj institutions (PRI members) apparently for playing a key role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic at the grassroots.

However, there will be no hike in the daily allowances and sitting fees. The decision would have an additional financial burden of Rs 10 crore per year

Three-tier system comprises of gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and zilla parishad.

A resolution issued by the state panchayati raj department said, the monthly honorarium of a Naib-sarpanch has been revised from Rs 750 to Rs 940 while that of a sarpanch has been revised from Rs 1880 to Rs 2350.

The panchayat samiti members and vice chairpersons of blocks, who have been receiving monthly honorarium of Rs 1880 at present, would now receive Rs 2350. The honorarium of a block chairperson has been revised from Rs 2820 to Rs 3530 per month.

Similarly, the honorarium of a zilla parishad member has been revised from Rs 2820 per month to Rs 3530 per month while the vice president of the zilla parishad would get Rs 7040 per month against the current monthly honorarium of Rs 5630. The monthly honorarium of a zilla parishad president has been revised from Rs 7,500 to Rs 9380.

Officials said, the proposed revision of the honorarium to the elected representatives of the PRIs had been under active consideration of the state government for some time. The state finance department has also approved the proposal for revision.,” said a panchayati raj department official.

Odisha has around 6798 sarpanches, equal number of Naib sarpanches, 6665 panchayat samiti members and 853 zilla parishad members.

The PRI members played a key role in state government’s fight against the Covid-19 especially in managing more than 16,000 temporary medical camps in rural areas, which were used as quarantine centres for the returnees. The state government recently also empowered the sarpanches with the power of a district collector to effectively handle the situation on the ground.