As many as 16,726 sanitary workers would be appointed on consolidated pay to add to the existing force of 9,896 sanitary staff in 12,524 village panchayats across the State, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa announced on Tuesday. Making a suo moto statement in the State Assembly, the Chief Minister observed that the present number of sanitary workers was insufficient to carry out sanitary work in all village panchayats.
One more sanitary worker would be appointed in each of the 8,469 villages having a population below 3,000, she announced. A total of 3,908 panchayats having more than 3,000 residents would get two additional sanitary workers, while 147 villages that have a population above 10,000 would have three additional sanitary workers, Jayalalithaa added.
The prospective employees would get a consolidated pay of Rs 2,000 per month and a dearness allowance of Rs 40.
In a bid to reduce the expenditure of village panchayats and to check the consumption of power, the State government has decided to install solar lamps in all the 12,524 village panchayats and in 385 panchayat unions. Solar panels would be installed to operate computers, printers, fans, bulbs and the like. Each panchayat union would get a 7 KV solar panel and Rs 10 lakh.
Meanwhile, a sum of Rs 150 crore has been allocated for solid waste managemen, she said. Besides this, a new scheme would be implemented for solid waste management at a cost of Rs 100 crore. As per the guidelines of the Central government, this scheme could be implemented in village panchayats having more than 500 families and Rs 20 lakh could be spent, the Chief Minister said. She exuded confidence that the Centre would provide funds to the State.