Four-fold hike for Delhi lawmakers recommended

Delhi lawmakers should get four times the basic monthly salaries they are drawing now, or Rs.50,000 as against the current Rs.12,000, an independent panel has suggested.

And if the hike suggested by the three-member panel in other variants of their salaries are approved by the Delhi government, the overall income of a Delhi legislator will shoot up from Rs.88,000 to about Rs.2.1 lakh.

The Aam Aadmi Party government had set up the panel to look into the revision of salary after a dozen of its legislators complained that it was not enough.

"Keeping in view the cost of living in Delhi and given the fact that there is no provision being made for housing allowance or for reimbursement of bills for amenities such as electricity and water, the Committee recommends that the salary be raised from the present level of Rs.12,000 per month to Rs.50,000 per month," said the panel in its 21-page report.

The committee, chaired by former Lok Sabha secretary general P.D.T. Achary, submitted the report to Delhi assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel.

Besides, the hiked proposed for constituency allowance is Rs.50,000 from Rs.18,000 while conveyance allowances, the panel said, should be increased to Rs.30,000 from Rs.6,000 per month.

The panel suggested that lawmakers should get a reimbursement of Rs.70,000 as allowance under Secretarial, Research and Office Assistance. Presently, the amount is Rs.30,000.

To meet office-related expenses, the panel said MLAs should get Rs.25,000. For communication, the allowance should be Rs.10,000.

The committee also recommended that daily allowance in the assembly which is Rs.1,000 be raised to Rs.2,000.