Bhubaneswar, Dec. 21: The State Election Commission today hiked the expenditure limit for candidates contesting the upcoming panchayat elections.

The move followed a formal communication by the state government that it was ready for the rural polls. The poll body would announce the election schedule after holding an all-party meet. The three-tier elections have to be over by mid-March, 2017.

The commission said that henceforth, a sarpanch and a samiti member would be allowed to spend Rs 80,000 against the earlier ceiling of Rs 60,000. Similarly, a zilla parishad member would be able spend Rs 2 lakh instead of the earlier stipulated amount of Rs 1.5 lakh. The new ceiling fixed by the poll body is less than the total remuneration that these panchayat representatives would earn during their tenure of five years in office.

For example, a sarpanch gets a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 which would total up to Rs 90,000 in five years, but the new expenditure limit prescribed for him is Rs 80,000. Similarly, a zilla parishad member gets a remuneration of Rs 2,250 per month, thus making Rs 1.35 lakh over a period of five years, but the expenditure limit for candidates contesting for the post has been fixed at Rs 2 lakh.

The commission also issued guidelines on the use of vehicles for election campaign. While samiti member and sarpanch candidates can use only two two-wheelers and one four-wheeler, respectively, the zilla parishad candidates can use two four-wheelers and four two-wheelers.

However, the commission's move has been described as unrealistic both by prospective candidates and the State Panchayat Parishad, the umbrella organisation of the panchayat representatives. "The truth is that a sarpanch this time would be obliged to spend no less than Rs 10 lakh on his or her election. The amount fixed by the commission does not take the ground reality into account," said parishad convener Shankarsan Parida.

Prasant Mohanty, a prospective candidate, said: "It would be hard to follow the commission's directives, especially the order about the use of two-wheelers."

The poll body called an all-party meet today to discuss the rural polls following state government's assurance that it was prepared for the three-tier elections for which a gazette notification would be issued on December 23.

However, the meet had to be cancelled as the leaders of BJP, which today organised a strike in Bhubaneswar protesting against its timing.

State Election Commissioner Rabi Narayan Senapati said: "The meeting was cancelled. We will soon fix another date for it soon."