The Pune Municipal Corporation has been divided over a proposal seeking one year’s honorarium from all corporators for the Chief Minister’s drought-affected assistance fund, while a separate all-party meeting on equal water supply in the city has been scheduled for October 28.
Bharatiya Janata Party corporators Dhiraj Ghate and Yogesh Mulik proposed that all elected representatives contribute their honorarium for a year to support drought-affected farmers. The BJP also announced that its 126 corporators would contribute their annual honorarium to the relief fund.
The proposal triggered objections from Congress and Nationalist Congress Party corporators because Mayor Manjusha Nagpure had not convened a meeting of all party group leaders before it was introduced in the general body. Opposition members said they supported assistance to drought-affected farmers but argued that the decision should have been taken after consultation among all parties.
Congress corporator Arvind Shinde said a prior meeting could have produced a more constructive decision. He called for separate consent letters from each corporator and said representatives should contribute according to their individual financial capacity. Opposition leader Nilesh Nikam questioned the BJP’s authority to take a decision on behalf of all parties without prior consultation.
The NCP said its corporators would contribute one month’s honorarium. Congress group leader Ramchandra, also known as Chandusheth Kadam, accused the BJP of politicising the drought relief issue, while maintaining that Congress supported drought-affected farmers. BJP representatives, however, argued that opposing assistance during a drought would be inappropriate given the seriousness of the crisis.
The dispute also extended to the issue of bonuses for municipal employees. Congress corporator Sunil Shinde raised the matter during the meeting, prompting Ghate to argue that discussing bonuses while the drought crisis was continuing was inappropriate. Deputy Mayor Parshuram Wadekar accused Congress corporators of opposing contributions to the drought relief fund, a charge rejected by the opposition.
The civic administration was also asked to consider providing Rs 5 crore from the Pune Municipal Corporation for drought relief. The report does not specify whether this proposed allocation has been formally approved or identify the funding source within the municipal budget.
The debate comes as Pune continues to face questions over the distribution of municipal water. Mayor Nagpure instructed Municipal Commissioner Navalkishor Ram to organise an all-party group leaders’ meeting on October 28 to discuss difficulties and possible measures related to providing an equal water supply to city residents.
The proposed meeting is expected to address water-supply-related concerns and guide subsequent decisions. The developments place drought assistance, municipal spending and the administration of urban water supply within the same civic debate, but the immediate procedural question remains whether the relief proposals will secure formal approval and cross-party consent.
