New Delhi | The Ministry of Home Affairs has put on hold the proposal of the Delhi Government to increase the salary of the members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The proposal to increase the salary and allowances of Delhi MLAs was pending with the Ministry of Home Affairs for the last 5 years. Sources familiar with the issue said that the MHA has banned the proposal.
The six-member committee of AAP MLAs set up by the Delhi Assembly to take up the issue of the proposed hike in salaries of ministers and MLAs with the Center had last sent the proposal in March this year.
The committee had passed the bill in 2015 with a proposal to increase the MLA’s salary and allowances from the current Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 and his total monthly salary from Rs 88,000 to Rs 2.1 lakh.
The committee had then said that the salaries of Delhi MLAs have not increased since 2011.
It said that the MLAs of Delhi are among the lowest-paid MLAs in the country as compared to other states and union territories.
The committee had then claimed that the MLAs of Uttarakhand get around Rs 1.98 lakh in the name of salary and other services, Rs 1.90 lakh in Himachal Pradesh, Rs 1.55 lakh in Haryana and Rs 1.3 lakh in Bihar.
The Rajasthan government pays its MLAs around Rs 1.42 lakh and Telangana around Rs 2.5 lakh per month.
Many states provide many other services to their legislators, which the Delhi government does not provide, such as house rent allowance, office rent and staff expenses, allowance for buying office equipment, a vehicle for use, driver allowance Etcetera.
Sources in the Delhi government said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will discuss the matter in the proposed cabinet meeting on Tuesday
