Delhi Assembly passes bill to effect 400% hike in MLAs salary

The Delhi Assembly today approved a whopping 400 per cent hike in basic salary of MLAs and Ministers besides hefty increase in perks and allowances, catapulting them among the highest paid lawmakers in the country.

As per provision of the bill cleared by the Assembly, the basic salary of legislators will rise from current Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 and their overall monthly package will be around Rs 2.1 lakh as against Rs 88,000 at present.  

The basic salary of Ministers, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Chief Whip and the Leader of Opposition will be around Rs 80,000 and their total emoluments nearly Rs 3.67 lakh as against Rs 1.2 lakh now.

The Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Government of NCT of Delhi (Salaries, Allowances, Pension) Amendment Bill 2015 will now be sent to the Centre for approval.  

The BJP attacked the Aam Aadmi Party government for bringing the bill and demanded its immediate withdrawal, contending it will send a wrong message to the people. Two BJP MLAs staged a walkout protesting the move.  The overall hike proposed for MLAs is two-and-a-half fold, while for Ministers it would be a three-time increase.