Telangana CM directs prompt salary payment to Panchayat Raj staff

Hyderabad, May 26 (TNT): Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday directed officials to ensure prompt payment of salaries to more than 50,000 Panchayat Raj employees on the first day of every month and warned against any delay in salary disbursement.

Reviewing the Panchayat Raj Department here, the Chief Minister instructed officials to take all necessary measures to ensure timely payment of salaries to Gram Panchayat employees.

He announced that the government would provide ₹59 crore as special funds every month to facilitate salary payments to Panchayat Raj staff.

Revanth Reddy said Gram Panchayat employees should receive salaries promptly on par with IAS officers and directed that outsourcing and contract employees should also be paid along with regular government staff.

During the review meeting, the Chief Minister instructed officials to amend provisions to allow Gram Panchayats to deposit their own source revenue directly into their bank accounts instead of treasury accounts, in line with the proposed amendment to Section 70(3) of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018.

He said the move would restore the financial autonomy of Gram Panchayats, which had been weakened under the previous government.

Reviewing the pension distribution mechanism, the Chief Minister ordered that pensions be directly credited into beneficiaries’ bank accounts and directed officials to discontinue payments through the postal department.

Officials were also instructed to streamline pension distribution using data from voter identity cards, Aadhaar and SEEEPC records.

The Chief Minister further directed officials to accord top priority to single women while sanctioning new pensions.

TNT TS