CHANDIGARH: Legislators in Haryana saw a major raise in their salaries and allowances as the state Assembly unanimously passed the Haryana Legislative Assembly Amendment Bill. Pay and allowances of a single lawmaker will jump to over Rs 150,000.
The Bill suggested that the salaries of MLAs be increased, keeping in view the rising cost of living, and be promoted from Rs 30,000 per month to Rs 40,000 per month. The constituency allowance will be doubled from Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 per month, office allowance from Rs 10,000 per month will now be Rs 25,000, sumptuary allowance will double from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. Their daily allowance will also go up from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 for over 15 days a month. Also changed is the free travelling facility which will go up 100,000, making it to Rs 300,000 per year.
The State exchequer, and Assembly were told that the implementation of the Bill will result in an overall expenditure of £900,000 per year. Introduced by Parliamentary Affairs minister Ram Bilas Sharma, the Bill was passed on the last day of the State Assembly's monsoon session.
However, the daily allowance cannot be ascertained at this stage as this will depend upon the tours of the MLAs, it was further informed. Notably, after the Bill was tabled in the Assembly, BSP's Tek Chand Sharma had said that though in protocol the MLAs were above the state chief secretary, yet the salary hike proposed in the Bill had "disappointed" the elected representatives. After this Ram Bilas Sharma assured the House a "consensus" would be evolved on the issue in consultation with the Speaker.
