The Delhi Assembly on Monday passed five bills unanimously hiking the salary and allowances of MLAs, ministers, speaker and deputy speaker, chief whip, and the leader of the opposition. Piloted by law and justice minister Kailash Gahlot, the passage of the bills was uncontested with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party also lending its support. Now, the bills will be sent to the President for assent. Speaking in the house, the Gahlot said that it had been a long and hard struggle to get the required approval from the central government.
Speaker Ram Niwas Goel pointed out that between 1993 and 2011, salaries and allowances of Delhi MLAs were hiked five times, effectively once every three and a half years, and the present hike comes after a gap of 11 years.
Currently, Delhi MLAs are entitled to Rs 54,000 per month which comprises a salary of Rs 30,000 and allowances: constituency allowance of Rs 18,000, secretarial allowance of Rs 10,000, conveyance of Rs 6000 per month, telephone allowance of Rs 8000 per month, a daily allowance of Rs 1,000 subject to a maximum of 40 days. Currently, MLAs are also allowed an advance of Rs 4,00,000 for conveyance. A Delhi MLA is presently also entitled to a pension of Rs 7,500 per month for the first term and an additional Rs 1,000 for subsequent terms.
The current bills passed by the house propose that the salary of MLAs be raised from Rs 12,000 to Rs 30,000, constituency allowance from Rs 18,000 to Rs 25,000, secretarial allowance from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, conveyance allowance from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000, and telephone allowance from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000. Daily allowance has been raised from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500. There is also a provision of Rs 1 lakh for a one-time allowance for the purchase of laptop, printers, etc. Annual travel reimbursement has been raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000.
The salaries of the chief minister, ministers, speaker, chief whip, and leader of the opposition are in the same bracket. After revision, salaries of these members have gone up from the existing Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000, daily allowance from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500, constituency allowance from Rs 18,000 to Rs 30,000, and secretarial allowance will be Rs 25,000. Along with that reimbursement of actual expenditure annually for self and family has been raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000, and sumptuary allowance from Rs 4,000 to Rs 10,000. A conveyance advance for the purchase of a vehicle of Rs 12,00,000 has also been approved. There is also a one-time allowance of Rs 1,00,000 for the purchase of laptop, printer, etc. Thus the salary and allowances of the chief minister, speaker, chief whip, and leader of the opposition will be Rs 1,70,000.
The pension of MLAs and ministers is the same and has been revised from Rs 7,500 to Rs 15,000.
Interestingly, the Delhi government had proposed Rs 2.4 lakh per month as total salary for ministers, speaker, chief whip, and LOP, with a salary of Rs 80,000, constituency allowance of Rs 50,000, sumptuary allowance of Rs 20,000, a daily allowance of Rs 65,000 and a secretarial allowance of Rs Rs 30,000, but the Centre slashed all of the figures.
AAP member and spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj underlined the “hypocrisy” of a commonly held expectation that elected members believe in ‘sewa’ (service) and therefore do not need attractive salaries. He also pointed to the practice in many countries abroad where legislators are adequately compensated.
Deputy chief minister and finance minister Manish Sisodia sought to question the commonly held belief “cut your cloth according to your needs”, arguing that resources must be a little more, but not too much, compared to a person’s basic needs.
The Delhi assembly witnessed a rare show of unity and camaraderie as the leader of opposition Ram Singh Bidhuri supported the government and even promised to meet the President for final approval for the bills either along with AAP members or separately.
In 2015, the AAP government constituted a committee to look into the issue of raise in entitlements of elected legislators. The government had submitted its recommendations, proposing a hike in the salary of MLAs from Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 and allowances from Rs 42,000 to Rs 1,09,000. Along with allowances, the proposed hike was 2.40 lakh rupees. However, the central government shot down the recommendations. The current bills were tabled after the ministry of home affairs approved the increase.
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