At a time when cost cutting and retrenchment is giving the working class sleepless nights, employees of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have done the unthinkable — ask for a huge hike.

Despite an average 20% hike in their salaries, they want more. Taking advantage of the ensuing elections, employee unions are pressurising the Sena-led municipal corporation to approve hikes over and above those ratified by the Centre in the recently approved Sixth Pay Commission.

Even as the crisis has hit municipal finance, forcing the civic body to curtail development projects, the fat hike demanded by the unions threatens to sink BMC's boat even further. The unions want 100% of the dearness allowance (DA), last revised on April 1, 2005, to be merged with the basic, and the revised salary grade be calculated on it.

Simply put, this means that if an employee gets Rs100 as basic and the DA is Rs90, the revised salary grade after merging the two would come to Rs353 (186 % of basic + DA). The proposed hike is 56% more than the present salaries. The unions will be meeting municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak on Monday for a final discussion.

An additional monthly burden of Rs65 crore (Rs780 crore annually) will be thrust on BMC's treasury if Phatak gives in to the pressure. A senior official has said that apart from increasing the administrative expenditure, it will also hike long-term liabilities of the BMC by increasing the pension amount, adding that this would also impact services like free medicine provided by the BMC. Ram Dhas, chief accountant, finance, said that the BMC was willing to merge 67% of the frozen DA with the basic.

Sandeep Ashar/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication