MCD passes resolution to increase councillors’ allowance by 80%

NEW DELHI

Councillors of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will now get up to Rs 1 lakh per month as allowance to attend House meetings. The proposal was approved under the private member resolution passed by the MCD. Now, all the councillors will get an 80% hike in their allowance.

The MCD passed the proposal to raise the allowance of MCD councillors for attending a meeting from Rs 300 to Rs 25,000. Along with this, MCD has passed seven more agenda items, which include doorstep service and the formation of a new managing committee for the Hardayal Municipal Library.
On 31 August 2023, the MCD passed seven agendas in the House meeting. The major highlight of the meeting was the rise in the allowance of MCD councillors from Rs 300 to Rs 25,000. The House also cleared a proposal to constitute a new managing committee for the over 160-year-old Hardayal Municipal Public Library and begin door-to-door delivery of 23 services that will include the issuing of birth and death certificates and the renewal of factory licences.

According to Mayor Shelly Oberoi, as per the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957, councillors are not entitled to a salary, but they do get a meeting allowance. So, the allowance for all 250 councillors of the MCD will be extended irrespective of all the political parties. It includes the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

However, MCD has fixed the maximum cap at Rs 1 lakh a month. That means for attending a House meeting, a councillor will get Rs 25,000 per meeting and Rs 1 lakh in total. As such, after the fourth meeting of the month, the money shall no longer be credited, allowing a maximum of four House meetings. Previously, it was Rs 300 per meeting, with a maximum of Rs 3000 per month. Shelly further said, “Councillors have to bear a lot of costs. It’s required for us to pay the councillors the money that they spend on serving the citizens.”

However, the Leader of the Opposition in the MCD, Raja Iqbal Singh, said that 31 August 2023, is the Black Day in the history of the MCD because the House meeting took place on Raksha Bandhan despite the boycott of the Opposition. He said, “Taking advantage of the BJP’s non-presence in the House meeting, the Mayor, Dr Shelly Oberoi, allowed the Aam Aadmi Party’s private members table the resolution to abnormally increase the councillors’ meeting allowance.”

Raja Iqbal Singh said that the private member resolution was not part of the agenda, yet the Mayor gave it time, and AAP councillors unanimously passed it, showing that it had the blessings of CM Arvind Kejriwal himself, but the BJP would oppose it. He said they only loved their allowances; they had no love for people of Delhi. He added that currently MCD has a lack of funds. “If MCD is running losses, then there is no point in raising the allowance for their benefits, as it will only increase the burden on the MCD. They have also increased taxes, just for their benefit. But we don’t want any benefits; we want the Mayor to decrease the taxes for the benefit of Delhiites. That’s why the Opposition is opposing this resolution.”