Gadchiroli March 21 (District Correspondent) An astonishing thing of an amount of staggering Rs. 1.35 crore having been deducted from the salaries of the Gram Panchayt officers of the district as subscription to a particular union by the Panchayat Samitis illegally over the last 5 years has come to light.
The Maharashtra Rajya Swatantra Gram Panchayat Adhikari Union (MRSGPAU) has taken strong objection to this deduction now and has demanded early recovery of the entire amount and stern action against those responsible for this illegal act.
According to the complaint lodge by the MRSGPAU President Dewanand Fulzele, Dilip Meshram, Siddharth Meshram, Ramesh Sahare and other office bearers, with the CEO of Zilla Parishad, this amount was deducted from the salaries of Village Development Officers and transferred to the account of the Gram Sevak Union. While Section 71 of the Accounts Code provides for 11 specific types of deductions from salaries, it explicitly states that no form of subscription or contribution for an employee union can be deducted from an employee’s salary, pointed out the comlaint.
However, in blatant disregard of these regulations, amounts ranging from Rs.500 to Rs. 1,000—designated as ‘Union Funds’ have been deducted from Gram Sevaks’ salaries at the Panchayat level across the Gadchiroli district and subsequently transferred to the Union’s account.
This process involves monthly transfers from various talukas- Rs. 26,000 from Gadchiroli, Rs. 41,000 from Chamorshi, Rs. 16,500 from Kurkheda, 24,000 from Etapalli, Rs. 45,000 from Dhanora, 20,000, Rs. 5,500 from Mulchera, Rs. 9,000 from Bhamragad, 10,000 from Aheri, 11,500 from Armori, 7,000 from Wadsa and Rs.10,000 from Sironcha taluka.
In total, a sum of Rs. 2,25,500—collected from 295 employees—is being remitted to the Association’s account every month from the Panchayat Samiti level. Consequently, the District Branch of the Gram Sewak Union has accumulated a total of Rs. 27. 06 lakhs per year over the past five years, representing a monthly inflow of Rs. 1,12,750. A sum of Rs. 1,35,30,000 was deducted from employees’ salaries; however, an account of these deductions has not been submitted to the government, it has been alleged.
Since this irregular deduction was carried out without obtaining the mandatory prior consent—as required by regulations—from the officials of the Accounts Department at the Panchayat Samiti level, a demand has been raised to immediately halt these unauthorized salary deductions.
The Maharashtra Rajya Swatantra Gram Panchayat Adhikari Union has demanded quick and stern action into the matter.
When asked about this, CEO of Zilla Parishad Suhas Gade told that necessary enqyuiry will be conducted into the matter and the amount of deduction will be recovered. Meanwhile, the CEO, taking cognizance of the complaint, has urgently issued a circular directing all the panchayat samitis and other departments not to make any sort of such deductions.
