Corporators nix BMC's free mobile plan

Mumbai: In a first, corporators of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have said no to the mobile phones that are provided to them by the civic body. All party group leaders in the civic body refused to accept the facility saying that they do not
want mobile phones from the money of taxpayers.

After the 2012 municipal corporation polls, the civic body had provided mobile phones, SIM cards and laptops to all the 227 elected corporators and five nominated corporators. The BMC has given Samsung Galaxy Ace mobile, which costs around Rs 10,000, to every corporator. Barring the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNS’) corporators, those from all parties had accepted mobile phones then. After the end of their tenure, majority of them had returned these gadgets to the civic body.

In 2017 too, the civic body decided to provide mobile and sim cards to all elected and nominated corporators.

The administration was planning to provide mobile phones at the cost of Rs 34.61 lakh. However, group leaders of civic parties opined that a majority of the corporators have more than one cellphone. Hence there is no need to accept mobile phones from taxpayers’ money.

Ravi Raja, opposition leader and Congress group leader, said, “We thought it would be prudent not to accept mobile phone from the civic body as every corporator has his
own mobile phone.”

Sources said that the corporators were even willing to return the laptops as they were futile.

“Despite repeated assurances, the civic administration has failed to make proceedings digital. In this backdrop, there is no point in taking laptops too,” said a corporator.