New Delhi: Delhi legislators may see a whopping four-fold hike in their basic salary, from Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000, if the recommendations of an independent panel are accepted by the Delhi government. The three-member committee chaired by former Lok Sabha secretary-general P.D.T. Achary, in its report submitted to Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, has favoured a 400 per cent hike in basic salary of MLAs. The legislators’ salary was last increased, by 100 per cent, in September 2011 by the then Sheila Dikshit government, citing inflation and rise in the cost of living.
Overall, the salary and allowances of Delhi legislators may be increased by a humungous two and a half times — from the current Rs 88,000 per month to Rs 2.10 lakh — according to the panel’s recommendations thereby, an increase of 138 per cent. In July, a group of Aam Aadmi Party legislators had demanded a significant salary hike, arguing their earnings were not enough to run their households and offices.
“The committee has recommended to increase the existing salary of MLAs from Rs 12,000 per month to Rs 50,000 per month. Also, total salary and allowances of MLAs have been recommended to be enhanced from the present Rs 88,000 per month to Rs 2.10 lakh per month,” Mr Achary said. The recommendations were made considering constitutional provisions and their job profile, he said.
The report invoked sharp reactions from Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay, who said salary and perks should always be proportionate to the required standards of living but the multiple enhancement of salary now being proposed was totally abnormal. “It is really strange that the AAP, which propagated that elected members should learn to live on basic requirements, has suddenly after coming to power become an advocate of abnormal enhancement of MLA salary and perks,” he said.
Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijendra Gupta also took a dig at AAP, saying it has now becomes Khas Aadmi Party with unlimited generosity in pay and allowances. “It has no funds for payment of salaries to safai karamcharis, pensions of the elderly, physically handicapped and other deprived sections, and management of dengue. But when it comes to the matter of MLAs’ salary, it is more than liberal,” he said.
Apart from basic salary, the committee has recommended hiking the constituency allowance from the current Rs 18,000 to Rs 50,000, saying the current amount was “grossly” inadequate. A reimbursable sum of Rs 70,000 per month has also been recommended as allowance under the head “Secretarial, Research and Office Assistance”, which is Rs 30,000 at present.
An “office rental and related utilities” allowance of Rs 25,000 has been recommended for meeting expenditure on office space and other essential amenities provided by government agencies. The committee has also suggested a communication allowance of Rs 10,000 per month as well as Rs 30,000 as monthly conveyance allowance for each MLA. The “daily” allowance of each MLA during every sitting of the House or its committees has been recommended to be hiked from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000. A significant increase has also been recommended in the one-time allowance of MLAs 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 (Rs 4 lakh at present).
The committee has also recommended a hike in monthly pension of MLAs from the existing Rs 7,500 to Rs 15,000 per month for the first term of membership and an additional pension of Rs 1,000 per month for every successive year of membership beyond the first term, Mr Achary said. Family pension has been recommended at 50 per cent of the pension being paid to a deceased member or an ex-member, he said.
The recommendations also include 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 committee has also favoured a 10 per cent raise in the basic salary, Rs 5,000 per month, after every 12 months, from the date on which the new salary and allowances come into force.
The committee of experts finalised its 21-page “unanimous report” over five sittings. The committee, including non-official members K.V. Prasad and Balraj Malik, went through the pay and allowances structures of many state Assemblies as well as those of the US Congress, UK, Australia and many other Commonwealth nations, member secretary of the committee Prasanna Kumar said. With the proposed hike in salary, the committee felt that there is no need for additional provisions to meet the expenses incurred by MLAs on domestic consumption of power and water. Also, it said there is no need to provide MLAs with either rent-free official accommodation or house rent allowance, which is standard practice in every legislature in the country, he said
