The Maharashtra government has assured positive action on the long-pending demands of around 60,000 Gram Panchayat employees, following a high-level meeting with the Maharashtra State Gram Panchayat Employees’ Union.
The meeting took place at the Vidhan Bhavan complex and was chaired by Legislative Council Deputy Chairperson Sachin Ahir. Rural Development Department Principal Secretary Chandrakant Pulkundwar attended alongside union office-bearers. The talks ran through a list of grievances that rural local-body staff have raised for years.
Four demands sat at the centre of the discussion. The union pressed for a structured pay scale, timely transfer of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) contributions into employee accounts, relaxation of the Gram Panchayat income criteria tied to employment conditions, and salaries credited online by the fifth of every month.
According to the Maharashtra State Gram Panchayat Employees’ Union, the discussions focused on “the implementation of a structured pay scale, timely transfer of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) contributions into employees’ accounts, relaxation of Gram Panchayat income criteria linked to employment conditions, and ensuring salaries are credited online by the fifth day of every month.”
