Cuttack, March 10: The clamour for a “monthly honorarium of Rs 5,000” for the peoples’ representatives in Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has become louder with councillors representing all 54 wards pressing for it unanimously and threatening to boycott municipal council meetings if their demand is not met at the earliest.

CMC rules provide for a monthly honorarium for the mayor and the deputy mayor. “But there is no such provision for councillors except for a sitting allowance of Rs 500 for the municipal council meeting and Rs 200 for the standing committee meeting,” said councillor Akhaya Beura, who heads the standing committee for taxation, finance and accounts.

The councillors are peeved over the apparent inaction of the government after more than a year since they first raised the demand.

Mayor Saumendra Ghosh said: “The Cuttack Municipal Council had passed a resolution last year demanding a monthly honorarium of Rs 5,000 for councillors along with increase in sitting allowance to Rs 1,000 for the municipal council meeting and allowance for the standing committee meeting to Rs 500.The resolution was subsequently communicated to the state urban development department.”

“The demand for monthly honorarium has been made unanimously again by all the councillors cutting across party lines,” the mayor said.

“They reiterated their demand by submitting a representation yesterday and threatening to boycott council meetings. But they decided to desist from this after being assured that their grievance would be forwarded to the appropriate forum,” he said.

“In fact, the government is actively considering a monthly honorarium for peoples’ representatives in urban local bodies. A committee is already working on it,” the mayor said.

The mayor carries home a consolidated honorarium of Rs 6,000 per month while the deputy mayor receives Rs 4,000. Councillor Madhusudan Sahu said: “Councillors should be paid decent remuneration so that they can work effectively.”

A cross section of councillors said they were not demanding a monthly honorarium simply because the MLAs had recently got a raise.

“In fact, we have been demanding it for the last couple of years. The truth is that remuneration is now a necessity,” a councillor said.

A decent honorarium would help them serve people better, the councillors contend. They have to spend money from their own pockets to maintain contact with people. “Without any remuneration it is difficult for us even to go around the ward for inspection and address grievances of the people who have elected us,” another councillor said.

“Councillors work at the grassroots level and virtually serve as the link between the people and the MLA. Besides, we address to day to day problems of the people. So there is no rational for denying peoples’ representatives of urban local bodies of even a minimum monthly honorarium while doling out fat salaries for MLAs”, said Pradeep Behera, another councillor.