Ganesh Kendale
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday announced a Diwali bonus of Rs 29,000 for the employees of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ahead of the announcement of code of conduct for the Maharashtra assembly elections.
The Election Commission of India announced the poll schedule for Maharashtra later on Tuesday, with elections set to take place on November 20.
At present, the country’s richest civic body BMC, with a budget of over Rs 53,000 crore, is being run by a state-appointed administrator as civic elections are pending.
The BMC has approximately 92,000 employees and officials on its payroll. This time, the ex-gratia payment is 11.53 percent higher than the Rs 26,000 distributed in 2023.
As per the official release besides civic employees, the bonus would also be given to teachers, professors and educational attendants at BMC schools and colleges, both grant recipients and non-grant ones.
Community Health Workers and ‘Balwadi’ or kindergarten teachers and helpers will get Rs 12,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively, as “Bhaubeej gift”.
The decision of Diwali bonus was made after a discussion between commissioner-administrator Bhushan Gagrani and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the release added.
