Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday announced a Diwali bonus of Rs 26,000 for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) employees. Shinde announced the decision after a meeting with BMC employee unions.Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray had criticised the government over the delay in announcing the bonus.
The BMC, considered to be India's richest civic body, is being governed by a state government-appointed administrator as municipal elections in Mumbai and several other cities of Maharashtra are pending for more than a year."Is the government that runs the BMC directly from the CMO in the absence of elected officials going to give Diwali bonus or not? If yes when? After the diwali is over?" Thackeray had asked earlier. Following the chief minister's announcement, the Sena (UBT) leader claimed that the Shinde government had forgotten about the bonus. "Now our job is to see whether it is actually deposited in the accounts as this is a zero trust-regime," he said.