60 per cent increase in salary for Delhi MLAs; Assembly passes bill
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi Assembly on Monday passed bills pertaining to more than 66 per cent increase in the salaries and allowances of members of one of the country's lowest-paid lawmakers.
The salaries, according to the members, must be in line with the rising prices and work done by them.
Five separate bills were introduced and passed by members to increase the salaries of ministers, MLAs, the chief whip, speaker, deputy speaker and leader of opposition in the assembly. These bills will now be sent for the approval of the President.
"Today, @DelhiAssembly passed five bills to increase the salary & allowances of Ministers, MLAs, Chief Whip, Speaker & Dy. Speaker and Leader of Opposition after 11 long years since the last increase. These bills will come into force after the approval of the President of India," Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot said in a tweet.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said, "To invite talented people into politics, there have to be rewarded. The corporates get talented pool of people because of the salaries." BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri also supported the pay hike.
In Delhi, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) gets Rs 54,000 per month as salary and allowances, which will be raised to Rs 90,000 after the President approves the bills. According to official figures, an MLA currently draws a monthly salary of Rs 12,000, which will go up to Rs 30,000 after the bills are approved by the President.
Constituency allowance will be increased from Rs 18,000 to Rs 25,000 and transport allowance from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000. Telephone allowance will be increased from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 and secretarial allowance from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.
In 2015, the Delhi Assembly had given its go-ahead to form a committee to formulate a salary hike proposal. MLA Vishesh Ravi had chaired the committee and had sent some figures to the Centre, but they were not accepted.
In May, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had given the Delhi government advance permission to introduce legislative proposals to revise the salaries and allowances of MLAs in the Delhi Assembly. Subsequently, the government introduced five bills in this regard in the Legislative Assembly.
With PTI inputs