Delhi assembly pass bill to hike salaries of its members

On July 4, the Delhi assembly on July 4 passed bills for a 66.67% hike in the salaries of MLA’s. The members of the Delhi legislative assembly will be paid Rs 90,000 a month, up from Rs 54,000, once the President approves the bill. 

The ministers pointed out that the salaries should commensurate with the rising prices and the work done by the legislators. Delhi’s law, justice, and legislative affairs minister Kailash Gahlot introduced 5 salary/allowances amendment bills to increase the salary and allowances of ministers, chief whip,speaker, deputy speaker, the leader of the opposition, and the members of the Assembly. 

The newly tabled bills propose to increase the salary and allowances of the chief minister and ministers, speaker, deputy speaker, chief whip, and the leader of opposition from INR 72,000 to INR 170,000 . The assembly secretariat will forward the bills to the department of law, justice and legislative affairs of the Delhi government, which will then forward it to the LG’s office, from where it will be sent to the President through the home ministry.

Speaking with reporters after the bill was passed in the Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia said, “A lot of discussions on this have been done in the last seven years. The central government had a few objections seven years ago. After incorporating their suggestions, Delhi Assembly has once again passed this bill and hopes for the Centre to pass it.”

In August 2021, the AAP government had sent the proposal to increase the salary, which was approved by the Centre in May 2022.Last week, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena also approved the introduction of these bills in the House, paving way for the bill to be passed in the Delhi Assembly. BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, also came in support of the bills.