In a bonanza for the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) elected representatives in Bihar, the state government on Tuesday doubled their allowances with retrospective effect from April this year, an official said.
The decision in this regard was taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Principal Secretary (Cabinet Coordination and Secretariat) Brajesh Mehrotra said.
The substantial hike in various allowances to thousands of elected representatives of the three-tier PRIs will put a burden of Rs. 195.88 crore on the state exchequer, he said.
Under the new structure, the Zila Parishad Chairperson will get an allowance of Rs 8000 per month, while the Deputy Chairperson will receive Rs 6000 as monthly allowance, Mehrotra said, adding the Panchayat Samiti Pramukh and its deputy will get Rs 6000 and Rs 3000 as allowance per month.
Similarly, the allowance for the Gram Panchayat Mukhiya and Gram Kuchhery Sarpanch has been raised to Rs 1200 each, while their deputies will receive Rs 600 each, the Principal Secretary (Cabinet Coordination and Secretariat) said.
In addition, the daily allowance of the PRIs' representatives have been hiked to Rs 200, while the travel allowance has been hiked at Rs 10 per km, Mehrotra said.
In another decision, the state government has raised the qualification to Intermediate for recruitment of police constables, he said.
The state government has also released Rs. 4.05 crore as additional grant to the affiliated colleges under the Bihar Agriculture University and Rajendra Agriculture University towards scholarships for under-graduate students for four years between 20013-17, Mehrotra said.
The state government has further approved amendment in the Bihar Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1994, to pave the way for increase of taxes on commercial vehicles from 20 to 50 per cent, the Principal Secretary (Cabinet Coordination and Secretariat) said.
In a boost to the farmers, the state government released Rs 250 crores as the state share toward premium of the crop insurance scheme on pilot basis, he said, adding that an additional Rs 150 crore has been released for payment of premium in 2013-14 on the crop insurance under the amended national farm insurance scheme.
The state government has also approval guidelines and policies for setting up higher secondary schools at the panchayat level, he said, adding that a policy decision wasalso taken about absorption of those retrenched employees after 1981 census into government departments.
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