Haryana MLAs get hefty hike in salary and allowances

Haryana legislators got a hefty hike in salary and allowances as the 90-member state Assembly here on Wednesday unanimously passed the Bill in this regard.

The monthly salary and allowances of a legislator will jump to Rs 1.5 lakh.

According to the Bill, keeping in view the rise in cost of living, it was proposed to increase salary of MLAs from Rs 30,000 per month to Rs 40,000 per month.

Constituency allowance will be doubled from Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 per month, office allowance from Rs 10,000 per month will now be Rs 25,000, sumptuary allowance will double from Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000.

Daily allowance will go up from Rs 1500 to Rs 2000 for a maximum of 15 days in a month.

Free travelling facility at the rate of Rs 2 lakh per year will now be Rs 3 lakh per year.

Telephone allowance at the rate of Rs 15,000 per month for a telephone at residence is being substituted to a telephone and a mobile phone for residence.

The proposed increase in salary, constituency allowance and office allowance etc will entail an extra expenditure of approximately over Rs 9 crore per year from the State exchequer, the State Assembly was informed.

The Bill introduced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, was passed on the last day of the State Assembly's brief monsoon session.

The Haryana Legislative Assembly (Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members) Amendment Bill, was tabled yesterday.

However, the daily allowance cannot be ascertained at this stage as this will depend upon the tours of the MLAs, it was further informed.

Notably, on Wednesday, after the Bill was tabled in the Haryana Assembly, BSP's Tek Chand Sharma had said that though in protocol the MLAs were above the state chief secretary, yet the salary hike proposed in the Bill had "disappointed" the elected representatives. After this Ram Bilas Sharma assured the House a "consensus" would be evolved on the issue in consultation with the Speaker.

The House then decided to discuss and take up the Bill on Wednesday.