Officials says the decision has been taken considering rise in costs of telephone bills and stationery
The state government may have imposed austerity measures on spending by various departments due to an increased financial loan burden of farm loan waivers, but corporators in Mumbai will get a 150 per cent monthly hike in their honorarium.
The state urban development department on Saturday decided to hike the monthly honorarium paid to over 2,700 corporators in 27 municipal corporations across Maharashtra.
This means civic bodies across the state — some of whom lack resources to pay staff and execute welfare projects — will entail a larger outgo towards corporators' honorarium.
For instance, the 232 corporators in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which includes 227 elected and five nominated members, will now get a monthly honorarium of Rs 25,000, up by 150 per cent compared to the previous amount of Rs 10,000, which was fixed in 2008. This will translate into an additional monthly outgo of Rs 34.80 lakh.
For other municipal corporations, corporators in A class municipal corporations (Pune and Nagpur) will now get Rs 20,000 (up by 166 per cent), and it will be Rs 15,000 for B-class bodies (Pimpri Chinchwad, Thane, and Nashik, which is a 100 per cent rise). Those elected to C and D-class corporations will get Rs 10,000, which translates into a 33 per cent increase. Earlier, corporators in civic bodies outside Mumbai were paid a monthly stipend of Rs 7,500, and this amount was decided in 2010.
"The decision to hike the honorarium has been taken considering inflation and rise in costs of telephone bills and stationery," said a state urban development department official.
"The present amount of Rs 10,000 is too less. If good people need to come to politics, it is the right thing to do," said Samajwadi Party corporator Raees Shaikh. He added that the move would "also help fight corruption."
However, Sharad Kumar, trustee, AGNI and Maharashtra state co-ordinator, ADR, slammed the move for coming at a time when the government was tightening its purse strings. "There is no accountability (on corporators) and transparency (in their style of working)," he noted, stressing on the need for a cost-benefit analysis of their work.
The corporations are classified on a grade ranging from A plus (Mumbai), A, B,C and D based on factors like population in the 2011 census and per capita income and generated by the civic body.
Allowance Cap
The state government has kept the meeting allowance of Rs 150 per meeting, subject to a monthly cap of Rs 600, unchanged for the BMC, while for other corporations, it stands at Rs 100 per meeting with a Rs 400 monthly cap.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "BMC_BUILDING")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}