Chandigarh, Aug 30 (PTI) Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday announced an increase in the honorarium of village watchmen to Rs 11,000 per month.

The honorarium has been increased from Rs 7,000 per month earlier. They will also get a uniform allowance of Rs 4,000 per annum along with a bicycle after every five years. Apart from this, the watchmen will get Rs 1,000 annually for stick and torch batteries.

Also Read | Hurricane Idalia Makes Landfall on Florida’s West Coast.

The chief minister was meeting representatives of village chowkidars from across the state including Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Charkhi Dadri, Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Karnal here, said an official statement.

Stressing the important role that village watchmen play in rural areas, Khattar said their service is crucial in birth and death registration, as well as marriage registration.

Also Read | Belgium Halts Shelter for Single Men Seeking Asylum.

Khattar further said that now the village watchmen will also get Rs 5 lakh in case of accidental death.

The chief minister said the increased honorarium for watchmen will be implemented from October 2023 and will be paid from November onwards.

Khattar added that village watchmen will be given a lump sum benefit of Rs 2 lakh on retirement, similar to the ones Anganwadi workers receive.

Meanwhile, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Haryana unit leader Satbir Singh said increasing the monthly honorarium was a long pending demand of village chowkidars.

"It was their long pending demand for which they have struggled for long. Earlier, the monthly honorarium was Rs 7,000 while uniform allowance was Rs 2,500 per annum," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)