Odisha hikes remuneration of ULB functionaries including Mayors

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced a hike in the remuneration and allowance of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) functionaries including mayors and deputy mayors.

The monthly remuneration of mayors has been hiked from Rs 8,000 to Rs 50,000 and deputy mayors from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 per month, an official release issued by the CMO said.

The remuneration of municipal council chairpersons and vice-chairpersons has also been increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 15,000 and from Rs 1,200 to Rs 10,000, respectively.

Similarly, the remuneration of the Notified Area Council (NAC) chairperson was increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 and that of the deputy chairman from Rs 800 to Rs 7,500.

The corporators of municipal corporations who were getting Rs 7,00 per meeting as allowance, will now get Rs 2,000. The allowance of councillors of various municipalities and NACs has been increased from Rs 150 to Rs 500. Apart from this, the members of the standing committee of the metropolitan corporation will get a daily allowance of Rs 200 during the meeting.

This increase has been made following the recommendations of the 5th State Finance Commission and amendments in Odisha Municipal Corporation Rules-2004, and Odisha Municipality Rules-1953, the CMO release said.

The chief minister also announced ex-gratia assistance for elected representatives of ULBs. In case of death, the amount of assistance will be Rs 2 lakh, while in case of total and partial disability, it will be Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively.

The official release also said that the state government will bear an annual expenditure of Rs 4.76 crore following the hike in these remuneration and allowances.

There are 1,696 councillors in municipalities and NACs and 244 corporators in municipal corporations in the state.