South Indian, farmers, 8th pass: Here's what India's richest MLAs look like

Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) data show that MLAs from Karnataka are the richest in the country, while those from the eastern regions are the poorest

The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a Delhi based think tank has come out with a report that indicates that the average income of India’s state legislators (Members of Legislative Assemblies or MLAs) is 17 times that of an average Indian in dollar terms. According to ADR, the average income of 3145 sitting MLAs across India analysed by it was Rs 2.5 million per annum. South Indian legislators were the richest in India with a per capita income of Rs 5.2 million – double the national average for all legislators. Among the South Indian states, MLAs from Karnataka were the richest with an average annual income of Rs 11 million. ADR had analysed the income of 203 MLAs from Karnataka to derive their average annual income. By the look of it the poorest South Indian MLAs came from Tamil Nadu with an average income of Rs 2.4 million closely followed by Kerala with an average annual income of Rs 2.5 million.

The ADR report states that the poorest MLAs in the country came from Western India with an average annual income of less than a million rupees. Among individual states, the poorest MLAs came from the state of Chhattisgarh with an average income of almost half a million rupees. Jharkhand, which was carved along with Chhattisgarh in 2000 by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had the second poorest MLAs with an average annual income of Rs 7,40,000. West Bengal, which had been under Communist rule for decades, had the third poorest MLAs with an average income of Rs 7,60,000.

What perhaps stands out in ADR’s analysis is the fact that the richest MLAs have declared their profession as agriculture. The richest ‘farmer’ MLAs totalling 397 and accounting for 13 per cent of the MLAs whose incomes were analysed had an average annual income of Rs 5.8 million. Overall, a quarter of all MLAs in ADR’s study had declared their profession as ‘agriculture’ in their election affidavits. The report further mentions that Bollywood actors were also among the richest category of MLAs along with farmers and businessmen.

The ADR report further indicates that the least educated MLAs have an average annual income that is four times that of all MLAs across India making them one of the richest in the country. The ADR report notes, “Among those MLAs who have declared their income, 139 MLAs with 8th pass as their educational qualification have average annual self-income worth Rs. 8.98 million.” Even illiterate MLAs had an average income which was higher than the per capita income of India. According to ADR, illiterate MLAs earn Rs 9,31,000 (or $ 12,845 at current exchange rates). That’s almost six times the per capita income of Indians. The lack of any correlation between educational qualifications of MLAs and their average annual incomes becomes even more apparent when one compares the income of graduates with others. The ADR report states that non-graduate MLAs had an average annual income of Rs 3.1 million while graduates earned Rs 2 million every year.

Summary and Highlights

• Average annual income of 3,145 sitting MLAs is Rs 2.45 million
• 711 MLAs in Southern Region have the highest average annual income worth Rs 5.19 million
• 614 MLAs in Eastern Region have the lowest average annual income worth Rs 853,000
• Karnataka’s 203 MLAs have the highest average annual income of Rs 11.14 million
• 63 MLAs of Chhattisgarh State Assembly have the lowest average  annual income of Rs 540,000, followed by 72 MLAs of Jharkhand with average annual income of Rs 740,000
• Housewife, teacher, pensioner and lawyer are among the least paid profession categories 
• MLAs who have declared themselves to be illiterate have an average annual self-income of Rs 931,000
• 1,052 (33 per cent) MLAs have declared educational qualification to be between 5th pass to 12th pass, have average annual income of Rs 3.10 million
• 1,997 (63 per cent) MLAs have declared educational qualification as graduate and above, have average annual income of Rs 2.08 million
• 771 (25 per cent) out of 3,145 MLAs, 55 (2 per cent) MLAs have declared business as their profession, and 758 (24 per cent) MLAs as agriculturist/farmer