Salaries of mayor and local representatives to be increased by 50 percent; move to grant pensions as well

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Information that the salary of the mayor and local government representatives will be increased. It is reported that their salary will be increased after the salary of the Chief Minister and MLAs are increased.

The salaries of the Chief Minister and MLAs will be increased in the next assembly session. The current salary of the mayor is Rs 15,800. The salary of the Deputy Mayor is Rs.13,200. A councillor's salary is Rs 8,200. A District Panchayat President has the same salary as the Mayor. The salary of a vice president is Rs 13,200 and that of members is Rs 8800.

The current salary in block panchayat is Rs 14,600 for president, Rs 12,000 for vice president and Rs 7,600 for members. In gram panchayat, the salary of the president is Rs 13,200, vice president is Rs 10,600 and members are Rs 7,000. There will be a 50 percent increase in salary. Pension will also be given to the representatives.

The representatives of the local government have been demanding for a long time that they be granted pensions. A special cabinet meeting had decided to issue an ordinance to increase the number of local wards. It has been decided to add one ward each in all local bodies from panchayats to corporations. At the same time, the criticism is that increasing the salary and providing pensions will create a financial liability and increasing the number of wards will increase the financial liability.