The Delhi Assembly has formed a six-member committee under Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to raise the issue of the proposed hike in salary of Ministers and Legislators with the Central Government.
Sisodia on Friday moved a resolution in the House, in connection with constituting the committee which was passed with a voice vote. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs Saurabh Bharadwaj, Sanjeev Jha, Praveen Kumar, and BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma and Manjinder Singh Sirsa have been appointed its members.
The Assembly had passed the Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Government of NCT of Delhi (Salaries, Allowances, Pension) Amendment Bill 2015, seeking 400 per cent hike in the basic salary of MLAs and Ministers besides hefty increase in perk and allowances in December 2015. According to the provisions of the bill, the Assembly Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Chief Whip and Leader of Opposition would get salary and allowances at par with the ministers.
The Bill once cleared by Union Home Ministry, the basic salary of legislators will increase from the current Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 and their overall monthly pay will be around Rs 2.1 lakh as against Rs 88,000 at present.
The basic salary of the Ministers, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the Chief Whip and the Leader of Opposition will be around Rs 80,000 and their total emoluments nearly Rs 3.67 lakh as against Rs 1.2 lakh now.
Sisodia said the Bill is pending with the Union Home Ministry for its approval since 2015. He also said the committee will meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh and request him to clear the Bill.
AAP MLA Vishesh Ravi, who raised the issue of salary hike, informed the house that legislators face problems as they don't get enough salary. Ravi received a covering fire from BJP MLA Sharma, saying that the Opposition is united over salary hike issue.