Punjab ministers get six-fold raise

In a rare show of unanimity, the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday passed six Bills, raising the salaries, allowances and loans for MLAs, ministe...

In a rare show of unanimity, the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday passed six Bills, raising the salaries, allowances and loans for MLAs, ministers, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker nearly six-fold. This act of generosity will cost the state more than Rs 6.5 crore every year.

In a state that has declared a funds crunch, the Bill on ministers’ allowances proudly claims that, in some cases, those in Punjab will be ‘‘getting more than the members of the Haryana Assembly’’. The legislators have benefited by way of introduction of four new allowances and salaries.

Though most of the 16 Bills were passed yesterday amid stiff opposition from the SAD (Badal) and the BJP, the hike in allowances was passed unanimously. Dissenters like Avinash Khanna and Tikshun Sud (BJP), Manpreet S. Badal, Capt Kanwaljit Singh and Balwinder Singh Bhunder (SAD-Badal) either chose to remain silent or walked out before the Bills were introduced.

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Though the ministers and MLAs have been kept at different levels ‘‘since the Council of Ministers…enjoys a better constitutional status’’, they are on par where major allowances are concerned. The ministers’ enhanced expenses will cost the Government Rs 1.6 crore per annum.

As per the new slabs, a minister’s salary will be hiked from Rs 2,500 to Rs 15,000 and the compensatory allowance doubled to Rs 5,000 per month. Telephone expenses will be allowed at Rs 10,000 per month, up from Rs 48,000 a year. Petrol, diesel and airfare payments will be raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh per annum.

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