HYDERABAD: If not fat salaries on a par with legislators, Greater Hyderabad municipal corporators are demanding modern cars, drivers, diesel, office boy and secretary apart from a reasonable hike in their monthly honorarium and phone bill.They have been impressing on mayor Bonthu Rammohan and commissioner B Janardhan Reddy the advantage of providing these facilities to them at the earliest as these would help them work with more zeal and enthusiasm and deliver citizens services and address civic grievances more effectively.
Currently, the corporators get a monthly honorarium of `6,000 and a phone bill of Rs 4,000, totalling Rs 10,000 which many corporators view as a pittance and want a considerable hike in honorarium, phone bills and additional facilities.Nacharam corporator Shanthi Saizen Shekar, in a letter addressed to the commissioner, sought provision of a car, driver, diesel, office boy, secretary and higher monthly honorarium and phone bills. The chief minister has abnormally increased the monthly salaries, allowances and other perks of MLAs and MLCs whereas the municipal corporators are left in the lurch and continue to suffer.
More than the legislators, it is the corporators who are easily and always accessible to the local citizens at any given point of time. If any civic-related problem in the division is to be solved, the citizens first approach them. While travelling in their respective wards, they are incurring sizeable amount on transportation and other expenses, she explained.
Like her, many other corporators also seek the additional facilities besides an increase in the monthly honorarium and phone bills for better working. Officials said that relating to monthly honorarium, the corporation had sent proposals to the government last year and a response is awaited. If the government takes a decision to increase the honorarium, GHMC will implement the orders.
Not feasible
But it will not be easy for the government to raise the honorarium or perks as such a decision has to be implemented for all the 74 urban local bodies (ULBs)—municipal corporations, councils and nagar panchayats. Barring the GHMC, a majority of ULBs are in a very bad shape financially as they do not have income-generating sources barring property tax and a meagre support from the government for developmental activities, they said.