Chief minister Naveen Patnaik being garlanded during an event to mark Panchayati Raj Divas in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. (PTI)

Bhubaneswar, March 5: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today announced a hike in the honorarium and sitting allowances of more than one lakh elected zilla parishad and panchayat representatives.

The government’s largesse will cost the exchequer Rs 50 crore. The announcement coincided with the celebration of the Panchayati Raj Divas to commemorate the 97th birth anniversary of former chief minister Biju Patnaik.

Henceforth, a gram panchayat ward member will get a sitting allowance of Rs 130 instead of Rs 100. While no honorarium has been announced for ward members, the honorarium for sarpanchs has been enhanced to Rs 1,500 from Rs 1,000. The sitting allowance for sarpanchs has also been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 130. The sitting allowance and honorarium is given once a month.

A member of the panchayat samiti will get Rs 1,500 as honorarium and Rs 130 as sitting allowance. The samiti chairperson will get a sitting fee of Rs 130 and Rs 2,250 as honorarium.

According to the government’s announcement, the member of the zilla parishad will get an honorarium Rs 2,250, the vice-president Rs 4,500 and the president Rs 6,000 as honorarium. They will also get a sitting allowance of Rs 150.

In the 2011 polls, the BJD captured 28 of 30 zilla parishads. Although the panchayat polls are not contested on party symbols, it’s apparent that the ruling party had swept the polls.

Panchayati raj minister Kalpataru Das and some other ministers said stringent action would be taken against officials who did not treat the panchayat representatives with respect. “The elected members at the grass-roots level should function as the chief minister in their respective gram panchayats and if any one fails to pay due respect to them, action will be taken against him immediately. You are not enjoying your rights because someone has done you a favour, but it has been given to you by the constitution,” said Das.

The government has also given additional responsibilities to the elected panchayat representatives. At the grass-roots level of administration, the panchayat members will be included in the block-level farmers’ committee, community health centre, school management and development committee and the block level sanitation committee.

Finance minister Prasanna Acharya and health minister Damodar Rout recalled how Biju Patnaik had introduced reservation for women in the three–tier panchayat raj system. Other ministers, including rural development minister Bikram Arukh and women and child development minister Usha Debi, also recalled Biju’s contribution to the panchayati raj system.