Jal Jeevan staff protest 5-month salary delay

Nagpur: A five-month delay in payment of honorariums has triggered a statewide non-cooperation movement by contractual employees under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) (SBMG), with protests set to intensify from May. The agitation, which began on April 20, has spread across Maharashtra, as employees demand immediate intervention from the chief minister.According to employees, honorariums under JJM have remained pending for nearly five months, while staff under SBMG have not received payments for around three months. They said irregular salary disbursement over the past several months has led to mounting financial stress, making it difficult to manage essential expenses such as rent, education and healthcare. The agitation comes despite multiple directives from authorities. Employees allege that these orders remain unimplemented.Highlighting their role in rural development, the Maharashtra State Water and Sanitation Govt Contractual Employees Action Committee said the workforce has been instrumental in achieving key milestones. As many as 38,805 villages have been declared ‘ODF Plus', while 14,472 villages have been certified under the ‘Har Ghar Jal' initiative.Despite staging protests in Feb, employees said there was no improvement in the situation, prompting the current non-cooperation stance. Under the agitation, employees have limited participation in official meetings, report submissions and video conferences. The committee has warned that protests will intensify from May if their demands are not addressed and has sought assurance that no salary deductions will be imposed during the agitation period.Employees have also raised concerns over structural issues, including the absence of a dedicated budget head for honorariums and delays caused by SNA SPARSH system, which reportedly results in a 15-20 day lag in salary credits. They have demanded consolidation of payments under a single category to streamline disbursal.Ramakant Gaikwad, chairman of action committee, said the govt must act swiftly on dues, regularisation and long-pending administrative reforms.