BENGALURU: As the finance department is working on various permutations and combinations to ensure that the state government is not cash starved, it is now thinking of reducing the honorarium paid to corporators in Bengaluru under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).
Till the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council was functioning in September 2020, corporators were getting an honorarium of Rs 7,500 per month. It had been increased from the earlier Rs 5,000. But now, the 500 corporators in the five corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will not get the same amount.
Finance department sources said, “It is not possible to pay that amount now. Rs 7,500 each to 500 corporators will be a huge burden. The department is thinking of multiple combinations. One case is where 500 corporators will not get any honorarium, but their sitting charges will be increased from the earlier Rs 200 to Rs 500. The other option is to reduce the honorarium from Rs 7,500 to around Rs 3,000 and increase the sitting charges to Rs 500. Another is to take the opinion of former corporators before finalising. No decision has been taken yet.”
A senior department official admitted that the division of Palike will lead to a financial burden. The five corporations have five commissioners and five additional commissioners.
There are also special commissioners, more joint commissioners, more engineers, more executive engineers and other staff. “More the staff strength, less the quality of work. This was noticed in zilla and taluk panchayats also,” the official added.
“The other associated costs in GBA will also increase, leading to a bigger economic burden,” the official said.
‘Govt should pay honorarium, sitting charges’
“If the division of Bengaluru’s administration into five corporations does not improve the city’s image, this is going to be a big futile financial exercise,” the official added.
Former corporators said the government should pay an honorarium, sitting charges and provide other facilities to corporators. Former BJP corporator Padmanabha Reddy said corporators are not given any salaries. Earlier, there were eight standing committees under the BBMP. Now each corporation will have eight standing committees. The government will have to pay additional amounts to members of each standing committee.
Congress corporator Abdul Wajid, too, said the government should pay at least the honorarium that was paid before the Palike Council was wound up. While the government has ordered the release of the additional amount to each corporation, the existing BBMP budget will be divided into five, he added.
The deployment of additional staff under GBA had drawn criticism from other government departments. A senior education department official said that the government has been unable to hire regular and contract teachers, and pay them well. This is affecting education in general, he added.