South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), on Tuesday proposed new allowances for the councilors with a huge hike. The new slab suggested for Mayor, Deputy Mayors, leader of the House, Standing Committee Chairman, leader of Opposition and councillors would be ranging from Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 for councilors. Besides, Rs 1,000 will also be given to councilors for attending house meetings.
Facilities like laptops, phone reimbursement, etc will also be provided to corporators in order to speed up the civic works. The move of the ruling party was welcomed by of the opposition and the Congress party as well as they had been demanding the same for long. laptops were provided to councilors earlier as well and but were taken back after term ended.
The proposal moved by Shikha Rai, a BJP councilor said that the allowance for attending Corporation meeting should be Rs 1,000 each and Rs 6,000 per month for office and stationary expenses for each councillor. The proposal sought allowance upto nearly Rs 5,000 per month for computer operator and a same amount for refreshment. AAP MlA from Tilak Nagar, Jarnail Singh, while participating in the House proceeding, demanded Rs 14,000 per month salary for computer operatiors.
The BJP councillor also proposed that there should an allowance of Rs 2,000 for mobile bills for each councillor as working without digital means of communication is not possible in this age. The resolution also demanded laptop for councllors for paperless work. "The previous Corporation had all these facilities so the same should carry forward to the newly elected body too,' she added.