Bharati Singh. deputy mayor

Bhubaneswar, April 29: Councillors of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) boycotted the monthly council meeting of the corporation on Friday demanding higher allowance.

All the 60 councillors stormed out of the meeting barely half an hour after the proceedings began.

They wanted Rs 23,000 per month as allowances for themselves and Rs 60,000 per month for the mayor and deputy mayor.

The councillors said they would continue their non-cooperation with the BMC council if their demands were not met.

“We are working as grassroots-level political activists and people come to us whenever there is a problem in the area. In the city the BMC councillors are the primary facilitators as far as resolution of public grievances are concerned.

“However, no one has ever thought about giving us a decent allowance or salary. There should either be a structured salary or an allowance of at least Rs 23,000 for us,” said one of the councillors.

Sources said the councillors had a meeting at BMC Yatri Niwas last night to discuss the salary issue.

As per rules of the BMC framed under the Orissa Municipal Corporation (OMC) Act, 2003, a councillor is entitled for a sitting allowance of Rs 500 for the corporation meeting and Rs 200 for the standing committee meeting.

The rules also allow the mayor to get Rs 6,000 and the deputy mayor to get Rs 4,000 honorarium per month. But it has no provision for honorariums for councillors.

However, the rules allow payment of travelling allowance to councillors at the rates permissible for group-A officers of the state government.

“As per provision of the OMC Act, with one corporation meeting and standing committee meeting a councillor can earn only Rs 700 per month. But with the rate of inflation touching the sky there should be a proper revision of these payments to the councillors,” said senior councillor Lala Ashok Kumar Ray of ward No. 44.

“The BMC authorities and state government are ignoring the genuine demands of the councillors. The sitting allowance for the council meeting should be enhanced from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000. For standing committee meeting, it should be raised from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000. Likewise phone allowance of Rs 1,000, travelling allowance of Rs 5,000 and monthly salary of Rs 10,000 should be given making it a total of Rs 23,000,” Ray said.

Deputy mayor Bharati Singh, who is also the councillor of ward No. 16. said: “I support this idea as I am also a councillor. The councillors should get their due with a proper analysis of their social contribution so that the BMC can function better.”

Mahamaya Swain, councillor of ward No. 47, gave the call of non-cooperation till the issue is solved.

“We should put pressure on the authorities by not attending the council and other meetings of the corporation,” she said.

Hemalata Bisoi, councillor of ward No. 53, said the state administration should take note of the contributions of the councillors for the better coordination of the work in the civic body.

“We should get our as a proper salary or an allowance,” she said.

“Today’s action by the BMC councillors was the result of a simmering discontentment among them. They had been demanding a revision of their allowance for a long time. As grassroots politicians we have to attend numerous social functions to maintain good public relation. All this needs a better package or allowance. The state government should come forward with an immediate solution to it,” said Padmanava Dash, councillor of ward No. 37.

BMC officials, however, added that already a discussion is in the process with the housing and urban development department to enhance the sitting allowances of the councillors.