The frustration and anger of the ward secretaries being removed from the post after working for 4 years without pay came as a ruckus on the streets of Patna on Monday. Thousands of ward secretaries reached outside the BJP state headquarters. They expected that the Panchayati Raj Minister, like every Monday, would reach the party office today for ”Sahyog Karyakram” to listen to the complaints of the people. But when the minister did not arrive, the anger of the ward secretaries turned into an uproar.

Virchand Patel Path changed in the battlefield: Thousands of crowds, riots, jams, and sloganeering. This was just on Monday at Patna’s Virchand Patel Path. When no message of the government reached the Panchayat Ward Secretary sitting for 12 consecutive days at the Gardnibagh sit-in site of Patna, he himself went out to narrate the government. The crowd of ward secretaries reached the state office of BJP in Patna. He felt that like every Monday, Panchayati Raj Minister Samrat Chaudhary would still listen to the complaints of the people in the BJP office under Sahyog Karyalay. But, when the ministers were not available, gradually the crowd outside the BJP office increased and this number reached thousands. Expressing anger, the ward secretaries raised slogans here. During this, the leaders who reached the BJP office silently ran away from the party office.

Employment of 1 lakh 14 thousand 691 ward secretaries in danger

The reason for this displeasure of the ward secretaries is a letter issued by the Panchayati Raj Department on 13 December. In this letter, after the completion of the Panchayat elections, it has now been ordered to complete the work of reorganization of the Ward Implementation Committee by January 15. This is the committee that nominates the ward secretaries. Reorganization means that the term of the old Ward Secretary has come to an end. There are 1 lakh 14 thousand 691 ward secretaries in the entire state since 2017. They did not get any honorarium. However, former Panchayati Raj Minister Kapil Dev Kamat had announced Rs 4000 monthly for the Panchayat Ward Secretary. They still believe in this and that is why there is displeasure over the removal of ward secretaries.

Panchayati Raj Minister said – work is being done under the law

When thousands of ward secretaries were creating a ruckus on the streets of Patna outside the BJP office, Panchayati Raj Minister Samrat Choudhary was attending the eighty-four banquet at Karnapura in Vaishali. He told Bhaskar that the letter against which the ward secretary is protesting has actually been issued as per the Panchayati Raj Act. According to him, the Ward Implementation Committee was to be reconstituted in 2018 itself, but its tenure was extended.

Now that the Panchayat elections are over, the committee has to be reconstituted. Ward secretaries are nominated and nominated by the Ward Implementation Committee. The ministers are saying that if a 5-member delegation is met, the government will consider their demands. To meet the demand of Panchayat Secretaries, changes have to be made in the Act, and this can be done from the level of the government and not the department.