Gujarat Guv approves bill on salary hike for MLAs, ministers

Gujarat Governor O P Kohli Friday gave his approval to a bill proposing a hike in the salaries of MLAs and ministers.

The Gujarat Salaries and Allowances of Members, Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, Ministers and Leader of Opposition Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 had been passed unanimously in the state Assembly on September 19.

With the governor giving assent to the bill, the salaries of MLAs will rise 64 per cent from Rs 70,727 to Rs 1.16 lakh, while that of ministers, speaker, deputy speaker, and the leader of opposition will go up by 54 per cent from Rs 86,000 to Rs 1.32 lakh.

The BJP government had defended the salary hike bill by stating that pay had not been revised since 2005.

While the previous pay structure took the basic salary of an under secretary as the criterion to determine the remuneration of MLAs and office-bearers, the new bill will determine pay by basing it on the basic salary of the deputy secretary.

A total of seven bills were passed during the monsoon session of the Assembly convened last month.

Of these seven, the governor has given assent to six bills while one has been referred to the President of India, said Legislative Affairs Secretary K M Lala.

"There was a bill which was about amending a certain section of the Indian Penal Code, which is a Central subject. That bill has been sent to the President. All other bills were approved by the Governor" said Lala.

He was referring to a bill to amend certain provisions of IPC section 379, which deals with the punishment for theft.

Through the Bill, the state government had proposed to increase the jail term for chain-snatching offences from three years to seven years along with a fine of Rs 25,000.

Other Bills, which were cleared by the governor, related to raising penalty for schools operating without registration, setting up of a biotechnology university, revising certain provisions of the GST, changing norms for the redevelopment of societies and setting up of a post of Commissioner of Municipalities Administration.