The Nashik Municipal Corporation has approved a Diwali ex gratia of Rs 31,500 for about 4,500 employees, increasing the annual payment by Rs 8,000 as the civic body manages additional responsibilities linked to preparations for the Simhastha Kumbh Mela.
The decision was cleared at the Nashik Municipal Corporation’s general body meeting on Wednesday. The payment will cover permanent, daily-wage, contractual and honorarium-based employees, among other categories, according to civic officials cited by the Times of India.
About 1,000 employees paid through various government-funded schemes will receive 70% of the approved amount, or Rs 22,050 each. The remaining eligible employees will receive the full Rs 31,500 payment. Officials said the total cost to the civic body is expected to be nearly Rs 22 crore.
The approved payout is higher than last year’s Rs 23,500. However, the current municipal budget has earmarked around Rs 16 crore for the annual Diwali payment, leaving the administration to make an additional provision of approximately Rs 6 crore to meet this year’s cost.
Mayor Himgauri Aher said the enhanced payment recognised the contribution of municipal employees while several departments were dealing with staff shortages. She said employees had continued handling routine civic responsibilities while taking on additional work connected with preparations for the Kumbh Mela.
“Employees have been working despite the shortage of manpower across departments and have also shouldered additional responsibilities for Kumbh preparations,” Aher said, according to the report.
The decision places the payment within a wider municipal administration challenge: Nashik must continue delivering regular civic services while preparing infrastructure and other public-service arrangements for a major religious gathering. Civic officials said employees are involved in infrastructure and civic service projects associated with the preparations, alongside their regular duties.
The ex gratia has traditionally been a key demand of employee unions. Staff representatives welcomed the increase, with the payment expected to be disbursed before Diwali. The approved amount will therefore affect not only permanent municipal staff but also workers engaged through daily-wage, contractual, honorarium-based and government-funded arrangements.
For the civic administration, the immediate financial issue is the gap between the budgeted provision and the approved payout. The additional allocation will have to be managed alongside spending on infrastructure, municipal services and preparations connected with the Kumbh Mela. The general body approved the higher payment after considering employee demands and the increased workload cited by officials.
Civic officials said the payment is expected to be released before Diwali. The next administrative step is to make the additional budgetary provision and process the disbursement for the eligible employee categories.
