The Hindu : New Delhi News : Councillors now want more

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 11, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Councillors now want more

By Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI, FEB. 10. It seems that the people's representatives in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are more concerned about their benefits and sops rather than the welfare of the citizens. The ongoing discussions on the Budget Estimates at Town Hall primarily revolve around increasing the Councillors' salaries and perks besides other benefits. So, after gifting themselves with laptops, the Councillors are now likely to get flashy mobile phones with new connections, the monthly bill of which will be borne by the exchequer.

It was only last month that all the 134 Councillors were given IBM Think Pad costing Rs.50,800 apiece. And during the ongoing discussion on the Budget Estimates, the Councillors have come out with a number of sops and perks for themselves, a new mobile connection with monthly bill being the latest one.

Ironically, this is not all. The Councillors have even demanded residential plots for themselves, while the heads of MCD's over three-dozen committees have asked the Corporation to provide them official vehicles.

Only recently the Delhi Mayor, A.R. Verma, had pleaded with the Delhi Government for a Rs. 800-crore bailout package to overcome the "impending financial crisis" in the Corporation.

But still instead of curtailing their expenditure, the Councillors are demanding more sops. Apart from a 200 sq.m. residential plot from the civic body, the Councillors have also asked for a three-fold increase in their allowances and provision for pension on expiry of their term.

One other major demand of these elected representatives is office vehicles to the chairmen of the 40-odd committees of the civic body. In his annual Budget presentation before the Standing Committee, the Works Committee Chairman, Ramesh Pandit, had proposed a special budgetary allocation of Rs.2 crores for purchase of vehicles for the various committees' heads.

Then there has been the demand to hike the meeting allowance from Rs.300 to Rs.1,000. It was during the end of last year that the meeting allowance was increased from Rs.150 to Rs. 300, and now the Councillors are seeking another increase as they work "round-the-clock" for the welfare of people.

And in his Budget speech, the Leader of the MCD House, Satbir Singh, has said that the Councillors' fund should be increased to Rs.85 lakhs so that they could serve their areas better, a demand that has also been favoured by almost all the Councillors, including the Standing Committee Chairman, Mukesh Goel.

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