Jharkhand MLAs, ministers get a 15 pc salary hike

Chief Minister Madhu Koda has justified the salary hike. “At a time when cost of living has gone up, these measures will help us work more effectively,” he said.

It is the fourth time in seven years that Jharkhand has hiked salaries of its ministers and MLAs. The move will cost the exchequer Rs 15 crore per annum. So far, none of the members of the treasury or opposition bench have raised objections pertaining to this hike.

If the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, tabled on floor of the house this year, is an indication, establishment costs gobble up around 75 per cent of its total receipts of Rs 8,463.88 crore. The contrast is only too glaring to be overlooked: More than 70 per cent villages do not have good roads and 43.3 per cent of the state’s population live below the poverty line, according to the National Sample Survey (2007).