Bill passed for 400 per cent hike in salaries of MLAs, ministers

City legislators will soon be the highest paid in the country as the Delhi Assembly on Thursday approved a bill that proposes a four-fold hike in their salaries. Apart from the significant hike in the basic salary, the bill also proposes a manifold hike in a range of allowances, citing increase in cost of living.

The Delhi government will now send the bill to the Centre and if it is approved, then basic salaries of the legislators will increase from current Rs12,000 to Rs 50,000 and their overall monthly package will be around Rs 2.1 lakh as against existing Rs 88,000. As per provisions of the bill, the basic salary of a minister will be Rs 80,000, a four-fold jump from Rs 20,000 currently. Overall, the hike proposed is two-and-a-half fold.

If the Centre approves the bill, then the salaries of the Delhi legislators will among the highest in the country.

“The bill proposes to increase the salaries, allowances and other facilities of the members of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi so as to facilitate them to work effectively in their fields,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said As he presented the bill in the Assembly.

The Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Government of NCT of Delhi (Salaries, Allowances, Pension) Amendment Bill 2015 was drafted based on a report of a three-member committee chaired by former Lok Sabha secretary-general P.D.T. Achary. “We have accepted all the recommendations of the panel,” Mr Sisodia said. In July, a group of AAP legislators had demanded a significant hike in salary. Apart from basic salary, the bill proposes to hike constituency allowance from current Rs 18,000 to Rs 50,000, saying the current amount was “grossly” inadequate.

The bill also provides for a reimbursable sum of Rs70,000 per month that was recommended as an allowance under the head of secretarial, research and office assistance, which is Rs 30,000 at present. An allowance for office rental and related utilities of Rs 25,000 has been proposed to meet expenditure on office space and other essential amenities provided by government agencies.

As per the bill, the legislators will be entitled to a communication allowance of Rs 10,000 per month as well as '30,000 as monthly conveyance allowance. The “daily” allowance of each MLA during every sitting of the House or its committees has been proposed to be hiked from Rs1,000 to Rs 2,000. The salaries of Leader of Opposition, Speaker, deputy speaker and chief whip will be on par with the ministers. The one-time allowances of the MLAs have also been recommended to be increased significantly with one time “office furnishing” allowance of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 60,000 for purchasing office equipment and a vehicle loan of Rs 12 lakh, which is Rs 4 lakh at present.

The salaries of legislators were last increased by 100 per cent in September 2011 by the then Sheila Dikshit government, citing inflation and the rise in the cost of living. The bill also provides for a hike in monthly pension from the existing Rs 7,500 to Rs 15,000 per month for first term of membership and an additional pension of Rs 1,000 per month for every successive year of membership beyond the first term. The family pension has been recommended at 50 per cent of the pension being paid to a deceased member or a former member, he said. The bill also features a maximum reimbursable travel allowance of Rs 3 lakh per annum for each MLA and his dependants by air, rail, road or steamer.

In an important recommendation, the bill also provides for a 10 per cent hike in the basic salary, Rs 5,000 per month, after every 12 months, from the date on which new salary and allowances come into force. The three-member committee of experts had finalised its 21-page “unanimous report” in October.

The committee, including non-official members K.V. Prasad and Balraj Malik, went through pay and allowances structures of many state assemblies as well as those of the US Congress, UK, Australia and many other Commonwealth nations.