After Telangana, Himachal Pradesh legislators treat themselves to a hefty salary hike

The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Thursday approved an almost 60 per cent hike in the salaries and perks of the lawmakers, chief minister, ministers, Speaker and Deputy Speaker and Parliamentary secretaries.

The monthly salary of the chief minister saw a hefty rise from Rs 95,000 to Rs 1,90,000 and that of a Cabinet minister from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,45,000.

Similarly, the salary of the Speaker rose from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,75,000 and that of deputy speaker from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1,70,000.

The salaries and allowances of MLAs increased from Rs 1,32,000 lakh to Rs 2,10,000 lakh per month while the daily allowance has been raised from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,800. Further, limit of free travel by rail or air rose from Rs 2,00,000 to Rs 2,50,000 lakh per annum.

The House also raised the pension of ex-MLAs and limit of free travel.

However, the hike in salaries and allowances is likely to put an annual financial burden of Rs 16.45 crore on the state exchequer.

The state is the second in the country to increase the salaries of the legislators. Last month, amid farmer suicides and financial crunches, Telangana legislators became the country’s highest-paid state lawmakers after the assembly approved a bill that hiked their gross monthly salary by 163 per cent to Rs 2.5 lakh.