Honorarium for DPC chiefs raised to Rs 25K in Punjab

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, July 22

In a significant development, the Punjab Government has asked the Department of Personnel to set right the protocol in dealing with chairpersons of the District Planning Committees (DPCs).

The move assumes importance as DPC chiefs in the past used to complain that during the Independence Day and Republic Day functions, they were made to sit three or four rows behind the dignitaries. “This imbalance will now be rectified and we will get our due,” said a DPC chief.

Ever since the DPCs were constituted by the Amarinder Singh dispensation in 2005, the Deputy Commissioners (DC) and departmental heads posted in district headquarters seldom attended meetings.

The DPC is the fulcrum around which all developmental works revolve in districts.

“The DCs, who are member-secretaries of their respective DPCs, and departmental heads rarely attend the proceedings thus taking the sheen off the working of the powerful bodies. An IAS officer is definitely uncomfortable taking part in meetings which are chaired by persons who wield political clout,” said a senior bureaucrat.

Now all officers, including DCs, will have to attend meetings convened by the DPC chiefs.

The DPC chiefs held a video-conference with Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Tuesday.

They were also upset about the Rs 15,000 monthly honorarium being paid to them. This has now been enhanced to Rs 25,000 per month.