400% Hiked
The Delhi Assembly approved a 400 per cent pay hike for MLAs and ministers, by passing the Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Government of NCT of Delhi (Salaries, Allowances, Pension) Amendment Bill 2015.
How the bill Passed
The bill, passed by the assembly with a voice vote, also proposes a commensurate 400% hike in ministers’ salary. The salary of the leader of opposition, speaker, deputy speaker and chief whip will also be on par with that of the ministers. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party has 67 MLAs in the 70-member House.
The Next Step
The bill will now be sent to the Centre for approval. As Delhi is a union territory with a legislative assembly, all bills with financial implications have to be cleared by the Centre.
Once the Centre gives its nod, the basic salary of an MLA will rise from Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 and the monthly package will go up to around Rs 2.1 lakh.
Similarly, the basic salary of a minister will increase from Rs 20,000 to Rs 80,000. Clubbed with a sizable hike in allowances, a minister’s monthly emoluments will amount to Rs 3.6 lakh from Rs 1.2 lakh.
Background
In October, a three-member independent committee chaired by former secretary general of Lok Sabha PDT Acharya had recommended two-and-half fold hike.
The Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Government of NCT of Delhi (salaries, allowances, pension) Amendment Bill, 2015, was based on the committee’s report cleared by the Kejriwal cabinet in November.
Salaries and allowances of MLAs vary from state to state. At present, a lawmaker in Himachal Pradesh is paid the most -- Rs 1.25 lakh a month, while an Odisha MLA has a monthly income of Rs 20,000, the lowest in the country.
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