By PTI
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Assembly on Monday passed bills pertaining to over 66 per cent hike in salaries and allowances of its members who are among the lowest-paid lawmakers in the country.
Five different bills were tabled for the hike in salaries of ministers, MLAs, chief whip, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, which were passed by the members. These bills will now be sent for president’s approval.
“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 approval of President of India,” Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot said in a tweet.
The members stressed that salaries should commensurate with rising prices and work done by the legislators.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said, “To invite talented people into politics, there have to be rewards. 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 legislative assembly (MLA) gets Rs 54,000 per month as salary and allowances, which will be hiked to Rs 90,000 after the bills get the president’s nod.
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 get approved by the president.
The constituency allowance will go up to Rs 25,000 from Rs 18,000, while the conveyance allowance will be hiked to Rs 10,000 from Rs 6,000.
The telephone allowance will see a hike of Rs 2,000 from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000, while the secretarial allowance will from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.
In 2015, the Delhi Assembly had given its nod to form a committee to formulate the hike in salaries proposal.
The committee headed by MLA Vishesh Ravi had sent some figures to the Centre, but they were not accepted.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had in May conveyed its prior approval to the Delhi government to introduce legislative proposals in the Delhi Assembly for the revision of MLAs’ salary and allowances. Subsequently, the government introduced five bills in the assembly in this regard.
