Tamil Nadu councillors have a full-time job that doesn’t pay

CHENNAI: A usual day for Thavamani Palaniappan, councillor for ward 25 of Coimbatore corporation, begins at 6am with phone calls from residents of the ward complaining about uncleared garbage and issues in drinking water supply. She reaches the ward by 6.30am to check the problem and then calls up the corporation officials, and ensures that the complaint is resolved.Thavamani then moves to another area to attend another complaint. Sometimes, her day ends at 8pm, sometimes it stretches to 10pm. It’s pretty much a full time job being a councillor, only that she doesn’t get paid for it. It’s not just Thavamani, councillors of the 21 city corporations in the state do not get any remuneration.
Councillors in the state get a sitting fee of around Rs 800 per council meeting, which takes place once in a month. They get `50 for attending zonal committee meetings. There is no monetary benefit to the mayor or deputy mayor either. While the mayor gets an official vehicle and accommodation, the deputy mayor gets only a vehicle. Councillors say that they spend nothing less than Rs 30,000 a month for various expenses including travel within the ward and hospitality of people approaching them.

Comparisons are drawn with an MLA who gets Rs 1.05 lakh a month. Councillors, mayors and deputy mayors argue that as elected representatives like MLAs they should be entitled to a salary. “I have to shell out between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 a day,” says G Selvaganapathy, the youngest councillor of Madurai corporation. The 24-year-old says this includes fuel for his vehicle to travel around the ward, tea and snacks for residents who visit him to air grievances. “People also approach us for donations for temple festivals. Some seek financial assistance. We cannot send them back empty-handed,” he says.

A councillor from Coimbatore, on condition of anonymity, says that his monthly expenditure is more than Rs 70,000 towards food for people of his ward who pay him a visit, fuel for his vehicle, donations and gifts. “I am invited for almost all functions in the ward from a temple consecration to an earpiercing ceremony. I have to gift them something or the other,” he says.
A councillor from Coimbatore, on condition of anonymity, says that his monthly expenditure is more than Rs 70,000 towards food for people of his ward who pay him a visit, fuel for his vehicle, donations and gifts. “I am invited for almost all functions in the ward from a temple consecration to an earpiercing ceremony. I have to gift them something or the other,” he says.
On the illegitimate front, there are instances of councillors demanding bribes from residents for various approvals, and from contractors for turning a blind eye to substandard civic work. “There are councillors who want to stay clean. What will they do without a remuneration?” says a councillor.
Decades ago, the post of councillor was considered to be an honorary one and occupied by people of stature. Over the years, other states have introduced salaries for councillors. Maharashtra is paying the highest remuneration in the country at Rs 25,000 a month. But Tamil Nadu hasn’t followed suit.
P Rajkumar, a former mayor of Coimbatore corporation said that the issue of remunerations was brought up for discussion during council meetings during his term in office. “Absence of remuneration is one of the reasons why councillors stray towards the wrong route to make money,” he says.
An official from the municipal administration said that Section 25A of the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, prohibits mayor, deputy mayor and councillors from taking remuneration. The other corporations in the state have similar rules. Coimbatore corporation commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara says that only the state government has the power to fix a pay. However, the council can pass a resolution to attract the government’s attention.
Srinivas Alavilli, head (civic participation) at Janaagraha, an NGO, working for citizen participation in local governance, says the councillor post is the entry point into electoral politics. Unlike earlier, many younger people are coming into politics. They should be encouraged with a rewarding remuneration. It is the only way to attract people from different stratas of society. “Otherwise, only people with money power can make it into politics. Many have spent money to become councillors. If there is no remuneration, they will look for other ways to compensate for it,” he says.
Gandhigram University professor and panchayati raj expert G Palanithurai says it is feasible to provide remuneration to councillors from urban local bodies, since they have funds. “A remuneration for their service can make councillors more responsible,” he says.