MLA salary hike ill-timed, unfair: Niranjan Patnaik

Senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik today lashed out at Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha for increasing the salary of MLAs and Ministers without providing any succour to distressed farmers.
"The Chief Minister has increased his own salary and the salary of ministers, MLAs and Ex-MLAs, while the agrarian crisis in the state is... Deepening because of drought conditions," Patnaik said.
Odisha government yesterday introduced four bills in the House seeking enhancement of salary, allowances and pension of the MLAs, speaker, deputy speaker and ministers. An MLA would get about Rs 1 lakh per month as salary.
On the same day, the government admitted that drought-like situation prevailed in certain pockets of the state due to deficient rainfall in the ongoing monsoon season.

In the next three months the state government would receive nearly Rs 17,000 crore from mine owners because of the Supreme Court ruling, he said.
Besides, auctioning of mines would add another few thousand crores to the state exchequer, the former Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president said.

So, the state government should plan a comprehensive package for the farm sector with an outlay of a minimum of Rs one lakh crore, Patnaik said in a statement.
"Instead of helping farmers, the Government is planning to allocate money to be earned from mining sector for roads and bridges to benefit from PC (percentage commission)," he alleged.

"This money belongs to farmers and must be ploughed back to them," said Patnaik.