Maha legislator driver salaries to cost govt ₹6.6cr/yr

The drivers of 367 Maharashtra legislators — 289 in the lower house and 78 in the upper house — are now entitled to get a monthly salary of ₹15,000 from the state

The drivers of 367 Maharashtra legislators — 289 in the lower house and 78 in the upper house — are now entitled to get a monthly salary of ₹15,000 from the state exchequer, which will mean an annual burden of ₹6.6 crore.

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This is in addition to ₹2.32 lakh each legislator gets towards salary and allowances per month and 15 other benefits, including medical facilities; interest-free loans for cars; free air, rail (limited distance) and bus facilities; residence in Mumbai, among others.

Both houses of the state legislature on Friday passed a bill to amend the Maharashtra Legislature Members’ Salaries and Allowances Act to allow the monthly salaries of drivers to be paid from the state exchequer. The bill was passed unanimously without any discussion in either house.

Former finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had demanded the salary be increased to ₹20,000.

The state legislature also announced tablets would be fitted on benches inside the house. Upper house members already had tablets installed on their benches three years ago at more than ₹1.50 lakh. Tablets for lower house members are expected to put an additional burden of ₹4 crore.

In response to the demand by Bharati Lavekar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), speaker Nana Patole said members of the legislative Assembly (MLAs) will soon get tablets installed on their benches.

“We installed tabs in the councils in December 2016, with an intention of switching over to a paperless regime. But its usage has been low,” said an official from the state legislature.

Legislators from both the houses get a basic pay of ₹1,82,200, dearness allowance of ₹21,864, ₹20,000 for postage, stationary and computer charges, ₹8,000 for telephone, taking their salary and allowances to ₹2,32,064. The facilities the legislators get includes ₹25,000 towards salary for personal assistance, ₹2,000 per day towards sitting allowance during sessions, two telephones, free ST and BEST travels, first-class train travel up to 30,000km per year, 32 single journeys within state and eight within the country per year, interest-free loan up to ₹10 lakh to buy a car, medical facilities for the family, minimum pension of ₹50,000 per month, subject to rise in amount at ₹10,000 per additional term.