Delhi MCD councillors' allowance hiked from Rs 300 to Rs 25k per meeting

MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi said that councillors have several office expenses which they have to pay from their own pocket

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Thursday cleared a proposal raising the allowance councillors get for attending each meeting from the current Rs 300 to Rs 25,000, according to a report by The Indian Express (IE).

The proposal will now be sent to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena.

"For attending up to four meetings every month, all MCD councillors will get an allowance of Rs 25,000 per meeting. This allowance will work as an operational cost that councillors need to run their offices and to work for the betterment of the citizens… we are proposing this after looking into the legal and structural matters involved," MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi said.

 

She added that councillors have several office expenses they must pay from their own pocket.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) boycotted the meeting since it clashed with Raksha Bandhan and expressed its disagreement with the move. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that once in power, at any level, the AAP's first move is to give a financial boon to its members.

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Oberoi responded that the move has been passed for all 250 councillors, irrespective of their political party. She said that the MCD has considered all the legal and constitutional provisions while bringing this proposal.

Municipal councillors do not get salaries. The last time the meeting allowance was increased for councillors was in 2004 when the allowance was doubled from Rs 150 to Rs 300 with the maximum limit of Rs 3,000 a month. The current cap has been set at Rs 1 lakh per month.

The AAP and Congress councillors passed the proposal unanimously through a voice vote. It was moved in the form of a private member resolution by two AAP councillors, Chitra Vidyarthi from Wazirpur ward and Shivani Panchal from Rohtas Nagar ward.

The BJP and the Congress criticised the ruling AAP for calling the session on Raksha Bandhan. Congress councillors said that the session should not have been conducted during the festival, while the BJP stated the house meeting took place on Raksha Bandhan day despite its opposition.

AAP responded by asking why the meeting could not be held the day schools and government offices were open.