Kerala cabinet approves hike in MLAs' salary

Kerala on Wednesday gave its nod for drafting the bill which will see a hike in the salaries and allowances of ministers, MLAs and former legislators.

According to reports, the ministers and MLAs in Kerala will see their salaries going up from Rs 55,012 to Rs 90,000 and from Rs 39,500 to Rs 70,000, respectively.

The travel allowance of ministers has been increased from Rs 10 to Rs 15 per km. However, fuel price will have to be borne by the ministers.

The bill is expected to be tabled in the assembly on March 20.

There are reports that the commission had proposed to increase the salary of ministers to Rs 1.37 lakh. However, the government fixed it as Rs 90,000.

In the case of legislators, the recommendation was to increase the salary along with allowances to Rs 92,000.

"The salaries of MLAs should have been hiked to at least Rs 90,000," said a legislator from the ruling front.

He further added, "Now, including travel allowance, the legislators are drawing only around Rs 39,000. The total allowances differ for MLAs from south Kerala and north Kerala as the TA is different for both.