New Delhi: A six-member committee of the Delhi Assembly, led by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, will meet Union home minister Rajnath Singh to seek an increase in the salary of the Delhi legislators.
The salary issue was acute and Delhi legislators have complained that their unmarried colleagues were finding it hard to find brides because of their low salaries. A resolution in this regard was passed in the Assembly by voice vote, which saw rare unity between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the House.
In December 2015, the Assembly had passed a bill seeking 400 per cent hike in the basic salary of MLAs and ministers besides hefty increase in perks and allowances. Mr Sisodia said the bill is pending with the Union home ministry for its approval.
AAP legislators Saurabh Bharadwaj, Sanjeev Jha, and Praveen Kumar and BJP legislators Om Prakash Sharma and Manjinder Singh Sirsa have been appointed members of the committee. While moving the resolution in the House, Mr Sisodia said the committee will meet home minister Rajnath Singh and request him to clear the bill.
He said that he had met the home minister both officially and personally and raised the issue. However, nothing had been done.
AAP MLA Vishesh Ravi, who had raised the issue of salary hike, told the House that legislators face problems as they don’t get enough salary. He said that unmarried MLAs were finding it hard to find brides because of their low salaries.
Mr Sharma supported Mr Ravi, saying the Opposition members are with the ruling party MLAs on the salary hike issue.
As per a provision of the bill cleared by the Delhi Assembly in 2015, the basic salary of the legislators will increase from the current Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 and their overall monthly pay will be around Rs 2.1 lakh as against Rs 88,000 at present. The basic salary of the ministers, the Speaker and the deputy Speaker, the chief whip, and the Leader of Opposition will be around Rs 80,000 and their total emoluments will be nearly Rs 3.67 lakh as against Rs 1.2 lakh now.
After the Assembly passed the Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Government of NCT of Delhi (Salaries, Allowances, Pension) Amendment Bill 2015, it was sent to the Centre for approval.
