BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a Bill approving nearly three-fold hike in the salary and allowances of the chief minister, the Speaker, deputy speaker, ministers and MLAs. The revised pay structure will be implemented with retrospective effect from June 5, 2024.
The chief minister will now get Rs 3.74 lakh per month, including salary and other allowances. This includes salary of Rs 1 lakh, car allowance of Rs 91,000 and sumptuary allowance of Rs 1.83 lakh. Similarly, the deputy chief ministers will get salary and allowances, totalling Rs 3.68 lakh per month.
The total salary and allowances of the Speaker has been revised to Rs 3.68 lakh per month. This includes salary of Rs 98,000 besides car and sumptuary allowance. The deputy speaker will get salary and allowances of Rs 3.56 lakh per month. Cabinet ministers, leader of the Opposition and government chief whip will get salary and allowances of Rs 3.62 lakh per month, while a minister of state and deputy government chief whip will get Rs 3.56 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh per month respectively.
As per the revised salary, a sitting MLA will get Rs 3.45 lakh per month, including allowances. The basic salary has been fixed at Rs 90,000, while he will receive sumptuary allowance of Rs 96,000 per month. The MLA will get constituency and secretariat visit allowance of Rs 75,000. Other allowances include, committee allowance of Rs 3,000, allowance for meetings outside Odisha of Rs 10,000, travelling allowance inside the state at Rs 35 per km, monthly transport allowance of Rs 50,000, allowance for periodicals and journals of Rs 10,000, electricity charges of Rs 20,000, Rs 35,000 medical allowance, Rs 2,000 accommodation allowance and motor car advance of Rs 10 lakh.
Earlier, MLAs in the state were getting a basic salary of Rs 35,000 and Rs 65,000 in allowances, excluding travel and session-related perks. Ministers, both cabinet and MoS, drew monthly salaries of Rs 40,000 and Rs 38,000, respectively. The bill also proposed Rs 25 lakh assistance to the family of any sitting MLA in the event of death, along with provisions to increase pay, allowances and pension every five years and permitting such hikes through ordinance without bringing a fresh bill.