Delhi MLAs get 100% salary hike

In a bonanza for Delhi legislators, the state Cabinet today cleared a proposal more than doubling their salaries and bringing it at par with the pay packets of ministers.

The Cabinet, at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, decided to raise the salaries of MLAs from Rs 16,500 to Rs 35,000.

The Delhi ministers, who take home around Rs 24,000, have also been given a raise of around Rs 11,000. The salary of the chief minister, however, remains at around Rs 37,000.

"This (increase in salary) is being done after a gap of five years. Now, there is hardly any distinction between the salaries of the MLAs and the ministers," Dikshit told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

Asked if the raise in any way went against the austerity code prescribed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, she said, "What Gandhi has said is that it should not look as if we are overspending and we are very careful not to. This increase has come after a gap of five years. It was indeed needed and there had been a demand for it for a long time."