Corporators hungry for more freebies

The cost of renting the cars alone is estimated to be Rs 2.42 crore for two years. Their fresh demand,if accepted,will further increase the running expenses. According to the current provisions,chairpersons of 16 ward committees along with chairpersons of the four statutory committees are entitled to a car each for their daily travel. They can use the cars for 12 hours everyday up to a distance of 100 km.

Corporators have now demanded that the cap on the number of hours the car can be used be done away with. “How can one put a cap of 12 hours for the use of cars as the work of a corporator is 24/7. There could be an emergency in the city and we will need to rush for the incident,which might cross the 12 hour limit,” said Dnyanraj Nikam,Congress group leader and standing committee member. In addition,corporators also demanded an extension of the distance limit for their travel to the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Earlier this year,BMC’s standing committee made amendments to the civic budgetary provisions to include Android phones for each corporator instead of providing laptops. It had also increased the honorarium paid to the corporators from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 per month.