Govt Considering 50 Pc Hike In Funds For Constituencies

There is good news for the Delhi MLAs. The Delhi Government is considering a proposal to increase the allowances of the legislators as well as a hike in funds for development of constituencies.

Delhi Finance Minister Mahender Singh Saathi told The Hindustan Times that the constituency fund of the MLAs would be increased in the coming Budget from Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore. The MLAs have demanded that their constituency fund be increased because the present amount was not enough for the development work.

Similarly, an increase in the allowances of the legislators may also be in the offing. But the proposal, which is being prepared by the Law Department of the Delhi Government, will have to be first cleared by the President of India for introduction in the House.

 

The talk of increasing the allowances of the Delhi legislators started after a group of MLAs demanded that their allowances should be raised since their counterparts in Punjab and Haryana were getting more perks and emoluments.

At the moment, the Delhi MLAs are getting a consolidated salary of Rs 10,000 per month. For attending each meeting of the Delhi Assembly, each MLA gets Rs 225 per day. But the MLAs have demanded that this sum be increased to at least Rs 500 per day.

They also argued that the legislators in Punjab and Haryana were getting an additional allowance of Rs 8,000 per month to take care of the constituents coming to meet them. The Delhi MLAs also maintained that they should get a similar allowance.

It is also being proposed to increase the conveyance allowance of the legislators. Under the rules, the Delhi MLAs get Rs 500 per month as conveyance allowance but it has been suggested that this will be increase appreciably.

The proposal, which is being drafted by the Law Department, also suggests an increase in the number of quota of free telephone calls for the legislators. At the moment, each MLA is entitled to 1,300 free calls for two months. The legislators, in their meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, had requested that this number should be increased to at least 2,000 per month.

However, the increase in the allowances for the Delhi MLAs will not be an easy task for the Delhi Government. A senior official said: "The Delhi Assembly can't move amendments in the salaries and allowances of the legislators without permission from the Centre. First the permission of the President is needed for any such proposal. The amendment Bill can't be introduced in the Assembly without the President's clearance."