In alarming hurry of pay hike, Legislators left their bosses behind

MLAs, MLCs get more salaries than CM, Ministers, Speaker, Chairman

Jammu Tawi, Jan 13: The hurry with which the J&K MLAs and MLCs have hiked their salaries by 100 per cent in July last year after these legislators proposed and approved a bill to double their pay and allowances, they forget to appropriate the salaries and allowances of Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Ministers, Assembly Speaker, Deputy Speaker, the LC Chairman, Deputy Chairman accordingly.

It was the third hike in the salary of State legislators in the last 10 years. After the passage of the bill, the salary of legislators went up from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,60,000.

According to sources, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, ministers, Assembly speaker Kavinder Gupta, deputy speaker Nazir Gurezi, the LC chairman, deputy chairman are not receiving the revised salaries.

The amendment bill for hiking the salaries of legislators was passed last year but, the State Law Department inadvertently did not introduce the amendment bill for hiking the salaries of the Chief Minister, Dy CM, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, LC Chairman, Deputy Chairman and ministers in the government, they said. Technically, they all are either MLAs or MLCs but for holding constitutional and government offices they are entitled for higher salary slabs and the same were not amended.

“They, instead of getting legislators salary, preferred to get the old salaries,” they said. The chief minister, who was getting Rs 90,000 as salary and allowances, was to get Rs 1.80 lakh after the pay hike. No wonder, the forthcoming amendment for hike in salaries of CM, Ministers and legislative constitutional offices will have retrospective effect and they will be getting handsome arrears. The cabinet ministers were to draw revised salary of Rs 1.70 lakh instead of Rs 85,000 earlier and ministers of state Rs 1.60 lakh per month instead of Rs 80,000.

According to sources, a legislator gets Rs 60,000 as basic salary, Rs 60,000 as CCA (Constituency Allowance), Rs 30,000 as telephone expenditure and Rs 10,000 as Medical Allowance (MA) which amounts to a gross salary of Rs 1.60 lakh.

The increase in the salaries and allowances to the chief minister, ministers and legislators in 2016 put an additional burden of Rs 12 crore a year on the State exchequer. Sources said separate amendments are needed for hiking salaries of legislators and the the Chief Minister, Dy CM, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, LC Chairman, Deputy Chairman and ministers in the State government.

They said the Law Department may introduce the bill on increase in wages of CM, DyCM, ministers and others in the Legislative Assembly soon.