Mumbai, Oct 28 Spreading festive cheer ahead of the festival of lights, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Mayor Ritu Tawde on Wednesday announced that civic employees will receive a Diwali ex-gratia payment of Rs 33,000.
The bonus was an increase of Rs 1,000 over the amount that appeared in the civic body’s SAP payment system a day earlier and will benefit more than 93,500 employees of the country’s richest municipal corporation, whose budget for fiscal 2026-27 is Rs 80,952.56 crore.
The ex-gratia amount, announced after a meeting chaired by the Mayor, is Rs 2,000 higher than the Rs 31,000 bonus paid to BMC employees ahead of Diwali last year.
The October salary and ex-gratia payment will be disbursed together on November 2, nearly a week ahead of Diwali on November 8, according to the announcement.
At a meeting of all group leaders at the BMC headquarters in south Mumbai, the civic body agreed to pay a Rs 33,000 bonus to its employees, union leader Shashank Rao told PTI.
The payment will benefit 93,509 people, including civic officers and employees, teaching and non-teaching staff of BMC-run schools, community health volunteers and balwadi (pre-primary school) teachers and helpers, according to the civic body.
Of the total beneficiaries, 88,756 are officers and employees in various categories, including those on the civic body’s regular payroll and staff of aided and unaided schools. The remaining beneficiaries comprise 2,393 community health volunteers and 2,360 balwadi teachers and helpers, who will receive a ‘Bhaubeej’ (festival celebrating loving bond between brothers and sisters) gift.
The announcement came amid a controversy over the amount reflected in the BMC’s SAP payment system on Tuesday.
Political and union leaders present at the meeting alleged the civic administration, headed by Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, had departed from the established tradition of letting the Mayor announce the Diwali ex-gratia amount.
They claimed a day prior, the BMC administration had updated the amount to Rs 32,000 in the SAP system before the Mayor’s scheduled meeting with civic leaders and union representatives without informing her.
The leaders said the Mayor subsequently announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 33,000 for Diwali, Rs 1,000 more than the amount reflected in the system. They estimated that the additional payment (Rs 1,000) could increase the BMC’s expenditure by around Rs 9 crore.
Ramakant Bane, secretary of The Municipal Union, said over 83,000 permanent BMC employees and other staffers will receive the bonus.
Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi, Leader of Opposition in BMC Kishori Pednekar, House leader Ganesh Khankar, Congress group leader Ashraf Azmi, AIMIM group leader Vijay Ubale, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena group leader Yashwant Killedar and others attended the meeting.
Azmi told PTI that he had strongly objected to what he described as the civic administration’s departure from the established practice (of the Mayor making the bonus announcement) and suggested moving a breach of privilege motion against the administration over the matter.
A union leader said Tawde was upset with the administration and reprimanded civic officials during the meeting over the issue. The Mayor subsequently ensured the ex-gratia amount was increased before announcing it.
The union leader said the civic administration maintained it had not announced the bonus and that the amount (Rs 32,000) appeared in the system during payment-related testing.
Some civic employees said the Rs 32,000 figure was visible in the SAP payment system on Tuesday, but salary details were no longer accessible when they checked the system on Wednesday.
Asked about the increase in the ex-gratia amount against the backdrop of retail and food inflation, Tawde said the bonus had been increased by only Rs 2,000, taking into account the drought situation in Maharashtra, and the ongoing infrastructure projects in Mumbai.
The state government has declared drought in 304 talukas across 32 districts due to deficient rainfall.
(PTI News)
