Punjab lawmakers give themselves salary hike

Punjab lawmakers today gave themselves a salary hike, notwithstanding the tight resource crunch the state faces with a revenue deficit of Rs.6,000 crore.
The state Assembly passed three bills to hike salaries and allowances of Chief Minister, ministers, Speaker, Deputy Speaker and MLAs.
Besides, on the last day of the budget session the Assembly also passed another bill for hiking their pension and medical facilities.
The total financial burden on account increasing salaries, pension and allowances has been pegged at about Rs 20.25 Crore on the exchequer.
The salary of Speaker and Deputy Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha would go up from 30,000 to Rs 50,000 per month.

The salary of Chief Minister has been hiked from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh and that of Ministers including Deputy Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 besides the salary of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries would be Rs 40,000 against the existing Rs 20,000.
The pension, ex-gratia grant and other facilities to the MLAs and former MLAs have also been hiked. This measure alone would put a burden of Rs 11 Crore.