Delhi legislators eye deeper pockets with 66% salary increase

NEW DELHI: The wallets of Delhi legislators are set to get thicker, as the Assembly on Monday passed bills for a 66 per cent hike in salaries and allowances of its members. According to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, the lawmakers of Delhi are among the lowest-paid legislators in the country. The bill of salary hike has been passed after 11 years, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

Five bills were tabled for the hike in the salaries of ministers, MLAs, chief whip, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, which were passed by the members in the monsoon Assembly session, which started on Monday.

The bill will now be presented to the President of India, and the salary hike will come into effect once it is approved by him. Currently, the MLAs in Delhi get Rs 54,000 per month, of which Rs 12,000 is the salary and the remaining is divided into various allowances. After the revision, the monthly salary will rise to Rs 30,000, and along with the allowances, the total monthly remuneration will reach Rs 90,000.

The constituency allowance will go up to Rs 25,000 from Rs 18,000, while the conveyance allowance will be hiked to Rs 10,000 from Rs 6,000. The telephone allowance will increase from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000.
AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said the Delhi government proposed Rs 2.10 lakh a month as salary and allowances for the MLAs in 2015, but the MHA did not agree with the proposal.

Sisodia said, “To invite talented people into politics, there have to be rewards.” BJP MLA and leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri also supported the pay hike.

How much they earn

• Telangana - Rs 2.5 lakh
• Maharashtra- Rs 2.32 lakh
• Uttar Pradesh- Rs 1.87 lakh
• Jammu and Kashmir- Rs 1.60 lakh
• Andhra Pradesh- Rs 1.30 lakh
• Himachal Pradesh- Rs 1.25 lakh
• Rajasthan- Rs 1.25 lakh
• Goa- Rs 1.17 lakh
• Delhi- Rs 30,000 (Proposed)
  (With allowance Rs 90,000)