Jharkhand top at Rs 2.9 lakh, Kerala bottom at Rs 70,000: MLA salaries, and surprises

Aside from their base salaries, MLA also receive allowances for work conducted in their constituencies, hiring aides and telephone bills. MLAs can also avail several perks, including government housing, free travel across the country, access to medical facilities and loans to buy vehicles.

Here’s a look at how MLA salaries compare across states and against the per capita income and assets of MLAs, and how much it all adds up to.

Jharkhand MLAs set to earn highest salaries, Kerala lowest

An analysis of MLA salaries across India, according to state Assemblies and media reports, shows that Jharkhand MLAs are now set to earn the highest salary at Rs 2.9 lakh a month after a committee had hiked MLAs’ salaries in August this year. The hike is yet to be cleared by the Assembly though.

After Jharkhand, Maharashtra has the highest MLA salary at Rs 2.6 lakh a month, followed by Telangana and Manipur at Rs 2.5 lakh each.

Only eight states offer salaries higher than Rs 2 lakh a month.

At the bottom end are five states with salaries lower than Rs 1 lakh a month. Kerala has the country’s lowest MLA salary at Rs 70,000. Though Delhi hiked its MLA salary last year by 67%, it’s still the fourth lowest in India.

In terms of total expenditure, Uttar Pradesh is at the top, spending approximately Rs 90.4 crore on MLA salaries per year, also because it has the highest number of MLAs, at 403. In contrast, Puducherry spends just Rs 4.2 crore on salaries every year, given that it has a 33-MLA House.

Kerala (140 MLAs), Assam (126) and Punjab (117) are among the larger legislatures with relatively low overall monthly expenditure at Rs 11.8 crore, Rs 12.1 crore and Rs 13.2 crore, respectively.

Jharkhand, with 81 MLAs, is set to spend Rs 28 crore a year after the new salary is approved, likely in the next Assembly session. Manipur spends about Rs 18 crore to pay its 60 MLAs.

The average monthly salary for MLAs across Assemblies is Rs 1.5 lakh. In contrast, the Centre spends Rs 2.7 lakh per month for each Member of Parliament.

Bihar offers 10th highest salary but per capita income lowest in India

A comparison of per capita income with MLA salaries shows that though there is no clear trend – richer states offering higher salaries and vice versa – there are some notable outliers.

India’s poorest state in terms of per capita income, Bihar, has the 10th highest MLA salary. Goa, which has the highest per capita income along with Sikkim, features among the states with the lowest salaries. Only nine states have lower salaries for MLAs than Goa.

Jharkhand, Manipur and Meghalaya’s high MLA salaries aren’t matched by similarly high per capita incomes. Delhi, which has the third highest per capita income, is among the lowest ranked in MLA salaries. Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana have among the highest salaries and per capita incomes.

Karnataka MLAs have most assets and among top states for salary

A comparison between average assets of MLAs, as declared in their candidate affidavits before Assembly elections, and their salaries shows that the wealthiest assemblies also offer relatively lower salaries. There are, however, some outliers like Karnataka, which is by far the wealthiest Assembly with each MLA holding an average Rs 64.4 crore in assets but its MLAs also get the sixth highest salary.

Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa have the next highest average assets, but Maharashtra ranks second for salary, with the other two at 18th and 21st, respectively.

On the other hand, Manipur and Jharkhand have some of the lowest average MLA assets but are also among the top five in salaries. At Rs 1.5 crore, Tripura has the lowest average assets and the third lowest salary.