5 legislators reject salary hike, question procedure

MUMBAI:: Days after the government announced a hike in the salary of legislators and the ministers, ranging between Rs 1.60 to Rs 2 lakh a month, five legislators

MUMBAI:: Days after the government announced a hike in the salary of legislators and the ministers, ranging between Rs 1.60 to Rs 2 lakh a month, five legislators rejected it. A few more are likely to follow.

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MLA Bachchu Kadu and MLCs Kapil Patil, Shrikant Deshpande, Dattatray Sawant, and Ramnath Mote have written a letter to the chairman of the Legislative Council Ramraje, Naik Nimbalkar, saying they would not accept the hike.

Most of the legislators represent teacher constituencies and raised the issue of the poor pay structure and the unscrupulous practices of their management.

Patil said despite their opposition to the bill that approved the pay hike, it was passed unanimously.

Deshpande said it was unfortunate that mightier representatives approved increased salaries for themselves when the comparatively lower groups of the society were fighting for their right for years.

Experts and social activists raised objections to the way the proposal was passed.

“The pay hike was justified on the backdrop of the rising inflation, but the procedure followed was wrong. The legislators judges their own cause. I think there should be a commission to determine the salaries of the elected representatives,” said former IPS officer-turned-lawyer YP Singh.

Political commentator Vishwambhar Chaudhary said, “The hike should be linked with performance and honesty. No other field initiates such hikes without weighing performance. There should be a mechanism where voters would get the opportunity to decide the hike.”

Former legislators Wamanrao Chatap opposed the hike saying it was initiated at an inappropriate time.