Centre approves move to hike salary of Delhi legislators

The Delhi government in December 2015 proposed ₹2.10 lakh as salary and allowances for the MLAs per month, but the MHA did not agree with the proposal, an official said.

Delhi’s MLAs are set to receive a 66.67% hike in salary and allowances and get paid ₹90,000 a month, up from the existing ₹54,000, with the central government giving “prior approval” for the salary increase, a spokesperson for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said on Friday.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said the salary of the MLAs in Delhi is among the lowest in the country. (Representative image/iStockphoto)

The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has conveyed the “prior approval” of the Centre to the Delhi government to introduce legislative proposals in the Delhi assembly for revision of the legislators’ salary and allowances, a move pending for the last seven years, officials familiar with the matter said.

The Delhi government in December 2015 proposed ₹2.10 lakh as salary and allowances for the MLAs per month, but the MHA did not agree with the proposal, an official said. In August 2021, the MHA approved an increase in salary and allowances of Delhi’s lawmakers to ₹90,000 a month, excluding reimbursements, a 66.67% increase, from the current ₹54,000.

Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal’s office on May 5 forwarded a letter to the department of law, justice and legislative affairs of the Delhi government from the MHA regarding the salary revision. The letter said the MHA has given “prior approval” of the central government for the introduction of legislative proposals related to salaries and allowances of the legislators.

During the next session of the Delhi assembly, a bill will be moved to hike the salary according to the capping fixed by the MHA.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj shared the latest developments on the matter at a press conference and said the salary of the MLAs in Delhi is among the lowest in the country.

“The bill has been stuck with the Centre for the last seven years, from 2015 to 2022, and for the last seven years the MLAs of Delhi have been getting only ₹12,000 as salary (excluding allowances). Besides this amount, they receive a constituency allowance, conveyance allowance, secretariat allowance and telephone allowance. The secretariat allowance includes the rent of the offices of the legislator. The telephone allowance includes the bill of the various telephones of the legislators. The conveyance allowance is for the legislators to be able to move around in their constituency for their work. The total monthly salary and allowances add up to ₹54,000 and this is what the legislators receive,” Bharadwaj said.

The salary issue has been a long-standing point of difference between the legislators and the central government.

“When this bill was sent to the central government, it suggested to us to increase the salary from ₹12,000 to ₹30,000. The state government had proposed a larger amount, but this was the reply from the central government. The Centre also suggested an increase in all the allowances in this order: Constituency allowance be increased from ₹18,000 to ₹25,000; conveyance allowance be increased from ₹6,000 to ₹10,000; telephone allowance be increased from ₹8,000 to ₹10,000 and the secretariat allowance be hiked from ₹10,000 to ₹15,000. With this, the total salary of the legislators including allowances in Delhi will be hiked from the current ₹54,000 to ₹90,000,” Bharadwaj said.

Bharadwaj said that MLAs in Telangana earn a salary of ₹2.5 lakh a month, those in Maharashtra ₹2.32 lakh, those in Uttar Pradesh ₹1.87 lakh, those in J&K ₹1.6 lakh, those in Uttarakhand ₹1.6 lakh, those in Andhra Pradesh ₹1.3 lakh, those in Himachal Pradesh ₹1.25 lakh, those in Rajasthan ₹1.25 lakh, those in Goa ₹1.17 lakh, those in Haryana ₹1.15 lakh, and those in Punjab ₹1.14 lakh.

“When AAP came to power in 2015, it was the firm belief of the party and its legislators that the wages of the legislators be such that there would be no need for them to look for other means to earn money and that they can spend all of their energies in working for the people of the city. It is obvious that, due to low salary, legislators are also forced to run a private business of their own; then they will not be able to work for the people with complete dedication,” Bharadwaj said.