Corporators give themselves a hike

Palike Council approves pension proposal; government nod awaited

A bonanza awaits the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and corporators. 

The BBMP Council on Thursday passed a resolution to increase the honorarium of all the members, including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor. As per the resolution, the Mayor should get Rs 40,000 per month, a more than 100 per cent hike from the current Rs 15,000. The Deputy Mayor is to get Rs 30,000 per month, up from Rs 15,000, and the corporators will get Rs 25,000, a hike of Rs 17,500 from the existing pay of Rs 7,500. 

An amount of Rs 20,000 is to be paid as pension to the 198 corporators once their term expires, the Palike Council resolved. The civic body will have to spend Rs 1.13 crore a year, up from Rs 29.41 lakh, if this resolution is ratified by the State Government.

The Council also resolved to increase the sitting honorarium from Rs 150 to Rs 1,500 per month. It was also resolved to raise the pay to Rs 1,000 for standing committee chairman to conduct meetings, Rs 6,000 as landline phone allowance and Rs 5,000 as travel allowance. 

Encroached land

Displaying documents of government and Palike land being encroached by land sharks, Yediyur corporator Ramesh N R said largescale encroachments have been discovered in the newly-added BBMP areas, which had gone unnoticed by Palike officials. Records show that there are nearly 3,220 BBMP properties and 1,791 properties located in old CMC areas, adding up to 5,011 Palike properties in Bangalore. The government land in the old CMC areas measures 4,401.03 acres (including burial grounds, lakes and stormwater drains), worth Rs 88,020 crore.

The issues related to appointing officials to 130 vacancies and not promoting officials on time rocked the Council meeting. Opposition leader M Udayashankar said if the BBMP failed to follow the High Court orders, there are chances of the Palike heads, including the BBMP Commissioner, being jailed. JD(S) leader Padmanabha Reddy questioned the delay in promoting Electoral Registration Officers. He said the Council had agreed to appoint 4,000 pourakarmikas, which is yet to happen.  

In his reply, Commissioner Shankarlinge Gowda said the Palike had deleted over 14.5 lakh names from the voters’ list, comprising 65 lakh names, available with BBMP. With regard to delay in promotions, the commissioner said that since the issue is in the High Court, he would address the issue only after the court verdict. Regarding the appointment of pourakarmikas, the commissioner said government approval was awaited for the appointments.

K Chandrashekar, Hanumanthanagar corporator, pulled up chief health officer Dr Manjula for not taking immediate action over the recent media reports about adulterated milk and contaminated packaged drinking water. He wanted a food inspector working in Chamarajpet to be suspended as he alleged that the inspector was hand-in-glove with suppliers of adulterated food items. The corporator said the food inspectors concerned failed to even visit the spot where contaminated items were found. 

Farewell meet

It was a farewell session for Mayor Sharadamma as she chaired her last council meeting on Thursday. Corporators appreciated her contribution to the City during her tenure and said she listened to every corporator without losing temper. Addressing the Council, she said that she had learnt a lot during her term as the fifth woman Mayor of Bangalore.