Click to play videoMumbai: Ever heard of applicants queuing up for a job that almost does not pay? Mumbai Municipal Corporation is one such place.
Every Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation seat has more than 40 aspirants vying for it, despite the job not coming with any pay packet.
A corporator in the BMC gets an honorarium of only Rs 4,000 and an allowance of about Rs 600 per month.
So what inspires over 10,000 enthusiastic candidates to fight it out for just 227 seats?
Fifty-year-old Devendra Singh, an aspirant who has decided to take the plunge into politics, has his reasons sorted out. "If you wield the lathi, you automatically have the power,” he says.
Power could be one addictive reason, but a closer look at the moolah game makes the picture clearer.
Every corporator is allotted a ward development fund of Rs 25 lakh and an opportunity to decide on the fate of projects worth Rs 22,000 crore through memberships of key committees
"There is lot on the offer. You have so many of funds to utilize, so many projects to undertake,” says BMC Councillor, Sameer Desai.
Desai’s constantly busy phone bears testimony to the hectic lobbying he is doing to remain in the BMC, while handling pending work in the last few weeks of his current tenure.
While power and money may not be the only driving forces - some join the corporation to do more for their city - there are always allegations that the motives of some others may not be above board.
With Rs 8,000 crore at stake every year, the onus of weeding out suspect elements - gunning for something much bigger than their non-existent salaries - lies with the voters.
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