Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 24 February 2022
On 6th of March 2022 Islanders will vote to elect their new set of elected representatives who would be In-Charge of their respective local bodies and wards for the next five years.
Hundreds of candidates from different political parties are contesting in the Panchayat and Municipal Elections 2022 in addition to the independent candidates.
Why do people have so much interest in getting elected to head the local body or their respective wards? What’s in for the candidates once they get elected?
Is it the power, the fame which drives them to contest in the polls or is it the money? Humans are everything but selfless, everyone has a hidden agenda behind all their actions and decisions.
Ask any political candidate frankly about the expenditure incurred by them during this election campaign and the answer would blow your mind. Any serious Pradhan candidate would have spent close to Rs.10,00000/-, some candidates even more.
How do the candidates recover the money spent on these expensive campaigns? How much are they paid for the work they do as a public representative?
The honorarium paid to the elected representatives of the three-tier Panchayati Raj System is as follows:
TIER I: Zilla Parishad
| S.No | Post of the Elected Representative | Honorarium (per Month) |
| 1 | Adhyaksh | Rs.6250 |
| 2 | Up-Adhyaksh | Rs.5000 |
| 3 | Chairman, Committee | Rs.4375 |
| 4 | Member of Zilla Parishad | Rs.3750 |
TIER II: Panchayat Samiti
| S.No | Post of the Elected Representative | Honorarium (per Month) |
| 1 | Pramukh | Rs.5000 |
| 2 | Up-Pramukh | Rs.3750 |
| 3 | Chairman, Committee | Rs.3440 |
| 4 | Member of Panchayat Samiti | Rs.3125 |
TIER III: Gram Panchayat
| S.No | Post of the Elected Representative | Honorarium (per Month) |
| 1 | Pradhan | Rs.3750 |
| 2 | Up-Pradhan | Rs.3125 |
| 3 | Sarpanch | Rs.3125 |
| 4 | Up-Sarpanch | Rs.2750 |
| 5 | Member of Gram Panchayat | Rs.2250 |
Municipal Council (We couldn’t find the exact amount paid to elected representatives of Municipal Council in Public Domain. The figures mentioned above have been obtained from an Ex-Municipal Council Elected Representative and there may be a slight differentiation in the actual amount paid.)
| S.No | Post of the Elected Representative | Honorarium Approx. (per Month) |
| 1 | Chairperson | Rs.25,000 |
| 2 | Senior Vice Chairperson | Rs.24,000 |
| 3 | Junior Vice Chairperson | Rs.24,000 |
| 4 | Councillor | Rs.21,000 |
The above figures of the honorarium paid to the Elected Representatives of Panchayati Raj System are clear enough to point out that any candidate who spends more than Rs. 2,25,000/- during his campaign for getting elected as Pradhan, cannot recover it honestly in his entire tenure as Pradhan.
Whereas a Ward Councillor of the Municipal Council gets paid almost Rs. 12,60000/- during his five-year stint. If they spend close to that amount during the elections for the campaign, they may get it back honestly as honorarium in the next five years.
But expenditure incurred by any Ward Councillor of Municipal Council during the election campaign is also much more than what they would make honestly from honorarium in the next five years.
What is that thing which drives these people to contest the elections by incurring so much more money than they would make in the next five years?
Most of the time the driving force behind the candidates contesting the election is the want of power and fame. Some candidates have the resources to fund their own journey to power and fame, they are happy to serve and never think of recovering the money spent on the campaign.
Some candidates find ways to recover the money spent on their election campaign and even make a profit, mostly by indulging in corruption.
It is rare to find serious candidates not spending a considerable amount of money during elections and most of such candidates are contesting elections to bring change.