Delhi assembly clears bills to hike salary of MLAs, ministers

The salary hike has already been cleared by the Union home ministry and the lieutenant governor (LG). The Bills will now be sent to the President for a final approval, through the LG.

The Delhi assembly on Monday passed five Bills, giving legislative approval to increasing salaries of ministers and MLAs with member from both the treasury and opposition benches supporting the proposals.

Delhi assembly clears bills to hike salary of MLAs, ministers (PTI)

The salary hike has already been cleared by the Union home ministry and the lieutenant governor (LG). The Bills will now be sent to the President for a final approval, through the LG, according to officials in the assembly secretariat.

Tabling the five Bills on the floor of the House on Monday, Delhi minister for law, justice and legislative affairs Kailash Gahlot said that even the hiked basic salary of Rs30,000 is not sufficient since the cost of living has gone up considerably. If approved, this will be the first salary hike for the Delhi MLAs and ministers in the last 11 years.

Gahlot said the struggle for salary hike started in 2015. “Even after the hike, the salary of Delhi MLAs is far lower than what MLAs in other states such as Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand,” Gahlot said.

According to the Bills, the salary of Delhi MLAs is proposed to be hiked from the current ₹54,000 per month to ₹90,000 per month. Delhi’s legislators have not received any salary hike in the last 11 years and continue to be among the lowest paid legislators in India. The salary and allowances of chief minister and ministers, Speaker, deputy speaker, chief whip and the leader of opposition has been proposed to be increased from the existing ₹72,000 to ₹170,000.

Most of the MLAs who participated in the discussion on Monday said that members of the assembly should get adequate compensation so that they can focus on serving the people without worrying about paying their bills.

BJP MLA Anil Bajpai said that despite differences both the BJP and the AAP are supporting the Bills. “The basic salary of the MLAs has been increased from ₹12,000 to ₹30,000, which is still inadequate. It should be at least ₹50,000. The MLAs get only ₹7,500 per month as pension. This should be increased to ₹50,000, and the legislators salary should be hiked every year,” Bajpai said.

AAP member Sanjeev Jha said, “The Delhi government sent the proposal for salary hike in 2015 but the central government did not approve it. The MLAs in other states get much more and Delhi’s MLAs get less even though the cost of living in Delhi is much higher.”

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who spoke at the end of the discussion, supported the Bills and said that people should have a little more income than their requirements.

“The proposal is to increase the (basic) salary from ₹12,000 to ₹30,000. The success of an institution depends on the quality of talent, and for talent retention money is important. Talent promotion in politics is very important and the salary is a key component of this. For Delhi MLAs, the salary and allowances are being increased from ₹54,000 pm to ₹90,000 pm. We should thank the taxpayers whose money is used to pay the salary that we get, and accept the proposal,” Sisodia said.

The Bills also propose a one-time allowance of Rs1 lakh to each MLA and minister for purchasing a laptop, personal computer, a printer, a mobile phone, etc. for their term in the office. Earlier, the general administration used to pay for these expenses.

Gahlot demanded that each member of the House should get at least four data entry operators to assist in the discharge of her/his services to the people. “Delhi government has made several services available to the people online and many people come to the MLAs office seeking help in availing the services. The MLAs need data entry operators so as they can effectively serve the people,” said Gahlot.

Leader of opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, if required, he will take a delegation of AAP MLAs to meet the President to request him to approve the Bills. “The MLAs should also have the right to choose assembly fellows who provide support to the MLAs,” Bidhuri said during the discussion without elaborating on the role of the fellows.

During the discussion many AAP MLAs also demanded interest free loan from the Delhi government to purchase vehicles so that they can move around in the constituency “as part of their work”. This demand was also backed by Bidhuri and other BJP MLAs.

In December 2015, the Delhi government proposed ₹2.10 lakh a month as salary and allowances for the MLAs, but the MHA did not agree with the proposal and the salary could not be hiked.

The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), in the first week of May, signed off on the increase, paving the way for the revision. HT first reported on Thursday that the Delhi government was going to bring in the Bills in the assembly after the LG gave his approval for the introduction of the bills in the House.