New Delhi: What is the monthly honorarium a panchayat sahayak or panchayat assistant is paid in Uttar Pradesh? A mere Rs 6,000.

“How do we run our households and manage life on that amount? There is a chance for a MGNREGA worker or a daily-wage labourer to manage more than Rs 6,000 a month. Educated youth in this job are earning Rs 200 per day,” Satendra, a panchayat sahayak, told The Wire.

Demanding that their monthly honorarium be increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 30,000 and that their services be regularised, thousands of panchayat sahayaks on September 7 had launched an indefinite protest at Eco Garden in Lucknow. Since then, they have received backing from major opposition parties, including former chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati. The dharna has escalated pressure on the Adityanath government, which has so far offered no concrete assurances to the striking panchayat workers.

In 2022, the state government appointed roughly 57,000 panchayat sahayaks – officially designated as Panchayat Sahayak/Accountant-cum-Data Entry Operators – to streamline administrative operations across Gram Panchayats. Meant to function as Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs), they are tasked with delivering over 243 government services directly to rural citizens. The state initiative aimed to decentralise service delivery and make administrative governance accessible to rural populations.

Panchayat sahayaks are selected on the basis of their Class 10 and 12 marks. Only the village toppers are appointed. The candidate has to be a resident of the same gram panchayat and must have cleared their Class 12 exams. The selection process adheres to the reservation policy applicable to the respective gram panchayats. Preference was given to the family members of individuals who died due to COVID-19, according to the state panchayati raj department.

'Backbone of rural governance in the state'

Due to rampant unemployment, youth were compelled to treat this as a full-time job, though most remain desperate to switch careers if an opportunity arises. They argue that Rs 6,000 per month is grossly inadequate to sustain a family or build a career. The Panchayat Sahayak Karmachari Union, Uttar Pradesh, which is spearheading the Lucknow demonstration, stated that panchayat sahayaks are no longer mere contractual support staff but have evolved into the digital and administrative backbone of rural governance in the state. From data management and online scheme implementation to public service delivery and inter-departmental coordination, nearly every grassroots digital operation relies on them.

“It is deeply unfortunate that employees performing responsibilities equivalent to skilled government work are surviving on a salary of only Rs 6,000 per month, an amount that is neither economically sustainable nor socially dignified in present times,” the union said.

According to the state Panchayati Raj Department, panchayat sahayaks are responsible for the daily operation of the gram panchayat office, public service delivery, acting as informants for birth and death registrations, supporting scheme implementations, facilitating the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP), and assisting with record-keeping and data entry across multiple online platforms. They are also regularly assigned additional administrative duties.

Set targets, assigned more tasks

Satendra, who also serves as the organisation secretary of the union, explained that they were initially hired strictly as data entry operators at the panchayat bhawan. Over time, however, their workload expanded dramatically while their honorarium remained frozen, with no provision for overtime pay. They were also assigned tasks from other government departments. “Our wages are the same, but the inflation rate in 2026 is not the same as in 2022,” Satendra said.

Panchayat sahayaks report being given strict targets to issue Ayushman Health Cards. The Agriculture Department tasks them with conducting crop surveys three times a year, while the Revenue Department enlists them for the Swamitva Scheme survey to issue land ownership cards to villagers. Additionally, they are appointed as Booth Level Officers (BLOs), tasked with generating Family IDs, and were previously deployed for COVID-19 vaccination drives.

“We don't get enough honorarium for the amount of work we put in. Our responsibilities only keep growing,” said Satender.

Protesting panchayat sahayaks argue that they want Rs 30,000 per month because that would make them at par with the salary of the gram panchayat secretary. Even in a compromised scenario, they will not settle for anything less than Rs 15,224, which is the minimum monthly wage of skilled workers in the state.

The Union in a statement said that panchayat sahayaks are carrying out departmental responsibilities, government accountability, public pressure, and technical workload similar to regular staff, but without financial security, service protection, or respectable wages.

Opposition support

On September 11, a delegation of panchayat sahayaks met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and submitted a memorandum to him. On September 13, a delegation of the SP led by state president Shyam Lal Pal met the protestors at the protest site and assured them that their issues would be resolved as soon as the SP came to power. Everyone will be provided with secure employment, and their problems will be addressed, Pal said.

On September 12, Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Aazad also participated in the dharna. Aazad urged the Adityanath government to immediately engage in dialogue with the Panchayat Sahayaks and swiftly resolve their issues. “Panchayat sahayaks play a crucial role in delivering government schemes and digital services to the general public in villages. Despite this, they are compelled to work for a meager honorarium,” said Aazad.

Senior OBC leader and former minister Swami Prasad Maurya also visited the protest site and extended his support to the Panchayat Sahayak movement. Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati urged the government to give a sympathetic consideration to their demands.

What happens to women

Beyond wage hikes, the panchayat sahayaks are demanding formal status as State Employees by abolishing the contractual agreement system and formulating permanent service rules. Citing their field experience, they have demanded a 50% horizontal reservation in upcoming recruitments for Village Development Officers (VDO) and Gram Panchayat Officers. Furthermore, they are demanding maternity leave facilities for female workers, alongside a clear transfer and adjustment policy.

Satendra said that around 60% of the Panchayat Sahayaks are women and they face a peculiar problem. If a woman panchayat sahayak gets married and moves to her in-laws place or village, she is automatically terminated and replaced, he said.

Shamshir Bano, a panchayat sahayak, said that women sahayaks are not granted maternity leaves. Stating her own example, Bano said that she was five months pregnant when she joined work at her in-laws’ village but after she delivered her baby, she was not granted any leave. “I had to take leave without pay,” she said.

Satendra says that despite protesting for a week, they have not got any hearing from the government yet. The sahayaks are not in a mood to budge from the protest site. “We don't want assurances, we want a copy of the government order. We will not go until then,” said Satender.

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