MCD okays proposal for hike in allowance of councillors to Rs 25,000 per meeting

New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Thursday passed 9 proposals including one seeking an increase in allowance of councillors to Rs 25,000 for each meeting as opposed to the previous allowance of Rs 300.

During the monthly House Meeting on Thursday, Mayor Shelly Oberoi said that the good governance Model of Delhi government has started in MCD as well.

One of the 9 agendas passed sought an increased allowance of councillors to Rs 25,000 for each meeting as opposed to the previous allowance of Rs 300. This was proposed keeping in mind that the councillors have to take on a lot of expenditure by themselves to develop their wards, and this resolution will strive to bring some relief to them, said the Mayor who passed the proposal.

The proposal will be sent to the L-G office for approval.

The Leader of Opposition in MCD, Raja Iqbal Singh condemned this, stating that the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not want any additional financial benefits at the cost of citizens having to pay more tax.

Pointing out another approved proposal from the House Meeting, which increased the rate of registration for dogs by 10 per cent, he said, “The MCD already has fund shortage and to deploy that in this way to benefit elected councillors at the cost of the public is condemnable”.

“Taking advantage of BJP’s non-presence in the House Meeting, the Mayor allowed Aam Aadmi Party’s private member’s on table resolution to abnormally increase the councillors’ meeting allowance to pass unanimously,” he added.

Other proposals passed in the meeting with no objections were the formation of a Hardayal Library Management Committee which will oversee the resolution of its pending salary and other problems, shifting of the Ayurvedic Dispensary in Malikpur from a private rented house to the first floor of MCD-owned building, Allopathic Dispensary in Isapur, extension of rate contract 2019-2021 for the supply of Medical Gases to the corporation, remodelling and reconstructing a sludge drain at Gulabi Bagh, with doorstep delivery service providing 23 benefits.

Even though nine of the eight proposals have been passed unanimously, the agenda related to toll tax has been referred back and the accepted agendas still await further approvals from authorities like the L-G to be implemented.

The councillors present also raised multiple issues, primarily the lack of systematic cleaning in their respective wards. Objecting to the conduct of Metro Waste Handling, they claimed that the garbage is not being picked up regularly, and the company has refused to throw away waste from sewage pipes, only limiting themselves to picking it up from the drains.

Further, many councillors claimed that the drains in their wards remain uncovered and requested the Mayor for a resolution as it was dangerous and unhygienic.

Councillor Sunil Chaddha said, “The Subhash Nagar Drain in our ward has only been covered in fragments. Only 115 metres of the drain has been covered while 685 metres remains open. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) promised to increase the height of the nala walls and cover it with nets so nobody falls in them, but it has yet to be followed.”