Irrespective of record downfall of the Rupee, MlAs of the seven-month old Himachal Pradesh assembly will get over 60 per cent hike in their salaries incurring a total burden of around Rs 5.50 crore on State exchequer.
The salary bill of MlAs, which was tabled in the House on the penultimate day of Monsoon session of Himachal Pradesh assembly, was withdrawn during Budget session by the State Government after opposition walked out of the House, over an issue.
The proposed bill will increase the salary of Chief Minister from Rs 39,000 to Rs 65,000, that of cabinet minister from Rs 36,000 to Rs 50,000; that of minister of State from Rs 33,000 to Rs 48,000 and that of deputy minister from Rs 32,000 to Rs 45,000 per month.
Besides, the bill had also proposed to increase telephone allowance of ministers from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 and also permit a sumptuary allowance of Rs 30,000 per minister per month.
Similarly, the bill related to salary of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of assembly had proposed to increase the salary amount from Rs 36,000 to Rs 50,000 for Speaker and from Rs 33,000 to Rs 45,000 for Deputy Speaker. Telephone allowance has also been proposed to be doubled from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000, besides permitting a sumptuary allowance of Rs 30,000 per month.
For Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) another bill proposes to increase the salary from Rs 23,000 to Rs 40,000 and that of Parliamentary Secretary (PS) from Rs 22,000 to Rs 35,000 per month. No other allowance has been proposed for the CPS and PS.
The biggest hike has been proposed in the MlA’s salaries bill, which is from Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000, telephone allowance increase from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per member, constituency allowance increase Rs 35,000 to Rs 60,000 and office allowance is to double from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month taking the total from Rs 70, 000 to Rs 1.15 lakh.
Former legislators are also set to benefit with the passage of bill, with their pension increasing from Rs 18,000 to Rs 22,000 per month. According to sources, a delegation of opposition MlAs, had met the chief minister Virbhadra Singh and requested for tabling of the pending salary bill in the House and requested to consider the hike of constituency allowance and travelling allowance.
“Opposition MlA’s have submitted a signed memorandum to chief minister requesting for tabling of the salaries bill in the House citing problem faced by legislators in meeting the expenses related to their constituencies,” said a senior level officer.
