New Delhi: MCD councillor Dr. Amit Nagpal, representing Ward 57 Pitampura, has written to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Commissioner demanding immediate implementation of a proposed hike in the meeting allowance paid to civic body councillors. In a letter dated November 13, Nagpal said Mayor Pravesh Shankar Vaahi, as Leader of the House, had announced the hike in the last budget speech, and the civic body’s House had already passed and approved it.
Under the approved proposal, the per-meeting allowance for councillors would rise from Rs 300 to Rs 3,000, while the monthly ceiling on the allowance would go up from Rs 3,000 to Rs 30,000. Nagpal said Rs 300 per meeting was grossly inadequate given current inflation, with councillors bearing most travel, fuel and other expenses related to their public duties from their own pockets.
He said the councillor allowance in Delhi’s civic body had not been meaningfully revised in nearly 40 years, and that councillors and local bodies elsewhere in the country received far better and more need-based allowances than in Delhi. Nagpal said it was the MCD administration’s responsibility to prepare a detailed proposal on the revised allowance and send it to the Delhi government for approval, but no action had been taken on this front so far.
In his letter, Nagpal made four specific requests to the Commissioner: immediately implement the previously announced hike of the per-meeting allowance to Rs 3,000; prepare a proposal to raise the monthly ceiling to Rs 30,000; send a detailed proposal with financial justification to the Delhi government for approval without delay; and ensure a time-bound schedule for implementation in the upcoming budget. He noted that the new budget was due to be framed within about 15 days, and warned that the issue could be left out again if no action was taken now. A copy of the letter was marked to Delhi Mayor Pravesh Shankar Vaahi.
