Bhopal, Apr 29: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today announced that panchayat workers would now be known as panchayat secretaries and be placed on a fresh payscale this fiscal.

''Secretaries will be entitled to dearness allowance (DA),'' he said at a 'Swagat Mahapanchayat' organised here today by the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Sachiv Sangathan.

Secretaries would be on the 2,200-3,700 scale, with 36 per cent DA and Rs 250 travel allowance per month as compared to the present honorarium of Rs 1,600.

''With effect from April 1, 2008, secretaries will receive Rs 3,242 and be entitled to an insurance scheme whereby the affected family will be given Rs 1 lakh in the event of a secretary's accidental death. Families of 22 such persons, who died last year, will also be benefitted,'' the Chief Minister added.