PESHAWAR, Aug 18: The Mardan district government has sought the provincial government’s approval for increasing by 100 per cent the monthly honoraria of the elected representatives.

According to a communication sent to the provincial government, the district nazim has asserted that in its meeting held in June, the District Council of Mardan, under section-39 (q) of the Local Government Ordinance 2001, had unanimously approved the 100 per cent increase in the monthly honoraria of elected representatives.

As per the proposed structure, the district nazim’s monthly stipend will be increased from Rs12,000 to Rs24,000, district naib nazim’s stipend from Rs10,000 to Rs20,000, tehsil nazim’s stipend from Rs10,000 to Rs20,000, tehsil naib nazim’s stipend from Rs7,000 to Rs14,000, union nazim’s stipend from Rs5,000 to Rs10,000 and union naib nazim’s stipend from Rs2000 to Rs4000.

The district government, while justifying the increase, had argued that the elected representatives spend time and money on welfare activities even though a majority of them cannot afford such work.

“To reduce their financial burden, the district council unanimously approves 100 per cent increase in the monthly honoraria of district nazim, district naib nazim, tehsil nazim, tehsil naib nazim, union nazim and union naib nazim,” the resolution passed during the meeting said.

The district government has asked the provincial government to accord approval to the proposal, enabling the administrators of all the three tiers of government to start paying stipend to the concerned nazims and naib nazims out of the current year’s budget.

Apart from increasing the honoraria for nazims, the District Council of Mardan approved a monthly payment of Rs2,000 as allowance for all members, especially women councillors, of the council. Accordingly, the district government has allocated an amount of Rs768,000 for the financial year 2007-08.

The district government has also sought the provincial government’s approval for starting paying the allowance which has been approved in line with the latter’s instructions.