PUNE: Over a fortnight after the standing committee of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) approved a proposal to bear all the medical expenses of former corporators and their wives, the committee, on Tuesday, rolled back the decision and withdrew the proposal.

According to the municipal health scheme, a former corporator gets 50% of the medical or hospitalization bills reimbursed from the civic body while the married partner is not entitled to any benefit. The women and child welfare committee of the civic body had recently approved the proposal for former corporators and their wives to be given 100% medical benefits, as enjoyed by sitting corporators. The standing committee had given the go-ahead at a meeting on August 14.

"The committee had earlier approved the proposal. But on Tuesday some elected members had second thoughts. We had a detailed discussion and then withdrew the proposal," Baburao Chandere, chairman of the committee, told reporters after the meeting.

Every year, the civic body allocates about Rs 10 crore for health schemes for sitting and former corporators and current and former civic employees. Last year, the civic administration had to divert funds from the health scheme for below poverty line people to bear the cost of treatment of corporators and employees.

In another decision, the committee approved the procurement of 15 dog vans for the city. Each ward office will have one for use by the ward and NGOs.

Wrestling match gets funds

The standing committee has sanctioned Rs 3 lakh for the wrestling competition organised by a corporator on September 22. "The corporator had tabled a proposal and the committee approved the demand," said Baburao Chandere. The committee approved the proposal as the competition was named after a veteran state wrestler, he added. A senior PMC official said the approval was against the rules. "The civic administration should not fund such events. If the competition is organised using the PMC's funds, a proper tender process should be followed. The approval is illegal," he said.