Employees of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be received a Diwali bonus of Rs 28,000, as was announced by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Last year, an ex-gratia payment of Rs 26,000 was made to the workers on Diwali. This year too, the Municipal Mazdoor Sangh had been demanding an ex-gratia bonus of Rs 40,000.
It is pertinent to mention here that the bonus has been approved just before the Maharashtra Election which will witness the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct or MCC.
Presently, the BMC workforce is 92,000 strong. The ex-gratia amount approved this year is over 11 per cent more than the Rs 26,000 paid last year.
The bonus was announced post discussions between Bhushan Gagrani, commissioner-administrator and Shinde. Teachers, professors and educational attendants employed by BMC schools and colleges (grant/non-grant) will be eligible for this ex-gratia payment.
Employees of community health centres and the teachers at Balwadis or kindergarten schools will be paid Rs 12,000, while the helpers will be paid Rs 5,000.
The BMC is reportedly India’s most affluence civic body, with a budget exceeding Rs 53,000 crore.