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Those who are responsible for maintaining the pace of development in the rural areas of Bihar have been away from their workplace for more than a month. The indefinite strike by Panchayat Secretaries, who are considered the backbone of rural administration, has slowed down the pace of essential work at the Gram Panchayat level in the state, which is having a deep impact on the lives of common people. Important works of public interest such as birth-death certificates, marriage registration, delivery of benefits to beneficiaries of various government schemes and local development projects have all come to a standstill due to the strike. To end this deadlock, the government has now issued a strict order.

In fact, the Panchayati Raj Department issued a clear instruction on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, asking the striking Panchayat Secretaries to return to work immediately without any conditions. The department has also made it clear that if they immediately return from the strike without any conditions, then a positive initiative will be taken on their demands as per the rules. This is both an appeal and a warning, in which the department has adopted both a soft and tough stance to end the impasse.

The department is considering the demands of Panchayat Secretaries.

Department Secretary Manoj Kumar appealed to the Panchayat Secretaries who went on strike and said that they should return to work immediately, so that the work to public interest and development can be conducted smoothly at the Gram Panchayat level. He stressed that the department is considering the demands of the Panchayat Secretaries, but for this they will first have to end their strike. This situation is like stopping all the preparations before an important festival, due to which the color of the festival starts fading and then the organizers request everyone to come together and return to work.

The rule of ‘no work no pay’ will be implemented

On the other hand, the department has also made it clear that if the Panchayat Secretary does not obey this order and does not return to work, the rule of ‘No Work No Pay’ will be imposed on him. This simply means that the salary for the strike period will be deducted. This is a move that could put financial pressure on employees and force them to return to work. After this warning, there has been a stir in the departmental corridors whether the Panchayat Secretaries Association will remain firm on its demands or bow down to the tough stance of the government.

work is being disrupted

Meanwhile, the Panchayati Raj Department has also directed to ensure an alternative arrangement. The department has found that in some districts no alternative arrangements have been made so far for the execution of the functions of Panchayat Secretaries, due to which the work is being further disrupted. In this regard, instructions have again been issued to all the district officials to immediately ensure alternative arrangements for the execution of the work of the Panchayat Secretaries who are absent or who are on strike in their respective districts. This step shows that the government does not want to allow work at the rural level to come to a complete halt and is making every possible effort for this.

Let us inform that the Bihar State Panchayat Secretaries Association had already informed the department about Panchayat Secretaries going on indefinite strike from 08 April 2026. Their demands include important things like posting in home district, increasing grade pay and giving traveling allowance. From then till now, the work in the Panchayats had completely stopped, due to which the general public was facing a lot of problems. Now it has to be seen whether the Panchayat Secretary ends the strike and returns after this appeal and warning given by the department or not, because the future of rural development of the state largely depends on this decision.