Perks of lawmakers rise manifold, invite criticism

The budget session of the state legislature, which concluded on Friday, saw three major announcements for lawmakers - raise in the local area development fund to ₹5 crore, hike in the salary of personal assistants and drivers by ₹5,000, and 300 low-cost houses for members of both the houses

The budget session of the state legislature, which concluded on Friday, saw three major announcements for lawmakers - raise in the local area development fund to ₹5 crore, hike in the salary of personal assistants and drivers by ₹5,000, and 300 low-cost houses for members of both the houses. However, these provisions have evoked sharp reactions from several quarters, especially when the legislators are already getting various other benefits apart from the salary and pension.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at Vidhan Bhavan. HT File Photo

The announcement of 300 high income group houses for MLAs and MLCs from outside Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) was made by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. A few MLAs, including Congress’s Praniti Shinde, Zeeshan Shaikh and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Raju Patil, said they would not wish to opt for the facility and instead, the money spent on them should be utilised for the welfare of the poor.

The backlash compelled the government to clarify that each house would cost ₹70 lakh. “The houses are meant only for the legislators who do not have any house in their name and who are from outside MMR,” deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said.

Housing minister Jitendra Awhad said the lawmakers would have to bear the cost of the land and the construction which comes around ₹70 lakh. “This is not for the first time any such scheme is being implemented in the state. More than 1,200 plots in the city have so far been allotted for housing schemes to various sections - from legislators, bureaucrats, journalists, artists to Mathadi workers.”

The salary, pension and the local area development fund have increased multifold in the last few years. The salary has gone up to ₹2.61 lakh from around ₹75,000 until 2016, while the pension has risen to ₹50,000 per month and an additional ₹10,000 per term served by the legislator. The area development fund has seen a jump by ₹1 crore every year for the last three years to take it to ₹5 crore from ₹2 crore until 2019-20.

“All the sitting MLAs and MLCs get two flats in the hostels in south Mumbai. The state government is building a swanky three-tower Manora hostel with more than 850 flats for the sitting and former legislators by spending ₹900 crore. Till they are allotted flats, they get ₹50,000 or ₹1 lakh per month for alternative accommodation in Mumbai. In such a scenario, another housing scheme at 35% -40% of the market cost is unjust when the state is reeling under the debt of around ₹6.5 lakh crore,” an official from the parliamentary affairs department said.

Maharashtra has 288 MLAs, 78 MLCs, and more than 800 former members of the Assembly or Council. Apart from the salary and pension, the incumbent and former lawmakers and their dependent family members get cashless mediclaim for which the government pays ₹15 crore a year as premium. The state recently extended the cap on the price of car for MLAs to ₹30 lakh from ₹10 lakh on which the interest is paid by the government if the vehicle is purchased on loan. The government is expected to bear the annual burden of ₹2.4 crore towards interest on the loan, according to officials from the finance department.

Jagdeep Chhokar, founder member of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), said the housing scheme announced by the state was nothing but a gross misuse of public money.

“In the wake of the increasing number of homeless people in Mumbai and Maharashtra, such largesse for the lawmakers is unjust. The ADR report says 93% of the incumbent MLAs are crorepati and in the backdrop of the fact that their wealth increases multifold between two elections, the backlash against the announcement is obvious. The way the area development fund is utilised by most of the legislators is also an open secret,” he said.

SM Deshmukh, who had moved the Bombay high court against the pension to the legislators, said, “Our petition in 2012 against the pension was rejected, but the pension given to the legislators is not justified. Some of the former lawmakers have been getting as much as ₹1.20 lakh a month as pension, while some get it from parliament and state legislature as well. This is the misuse of taxpayers’ money.”

On the housing scheme, there should be pressure on the government to rethink its decision, he said. “The assets declared by legislators show how wealthier they are and the perks given to them do not justify considering their financial background. The state government has been announcing sops for the legislators to keep them united in the wake of the political uncertainty the government is reeling under.”