BENGALURU: Even as Karnataka grapples with the pandemic, economic slowdown and other financial constraints, elected representatives have reportedly gifted themselves a ‘bumper salary hike’.
Ahead of the state budget, the Assembly on Tuesday passed bills that proposed a hike of 50 per cent in salaries and other allowances for the Chief Minister, ministers, and legislators, along with the Speaker and Council Chairman. The new hike will come into effect from April 1, 2022. The Bills also propose to increase the salary once in five years automatically.
While the Karnataka Ministers Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2022, proposed a salary hike of 50 per cent to the CM and ministers, the Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2022, proposed to give a 50 per cent hike in salaries to MLAs, MLCs, Speaker and Deputy Speakers, Council Chairman and Deputy Chairman. They also proposed to get an increase in allowances, towards the members’ houses, travel, and phone bills.
According to the proposed Bill, the CM will now get Rs 75,000 per month as basic pay, from the earlier Rs 50,000; while the ministers’ salary has increased from Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000. This apart, they are entitled to get house allowances of Rs 1.2 lakh (from the existing Rs 80,000), along with Rs 20,000 towards phone bills, Rs 40,000 for constituency allowances, Rs 5,000 for postal charges, and other expenditures.
Meanwhile, the salaries of MLAs increased from Rs 25,000 per month to Rs 40,000. While the Karnataka Ministers Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill makes an additional financial burden of Rs 25.4 crore, the Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2022, will be a recurring additional expenditure of Rs 67 crore annually.
As expected, none among the legislators has opposed the decision to hike their salaries by 50 per cent, when the State Government is staring at a financial crunch. While Congress members were in the well of the House demanding RDPR Minister KS Eshwarappa’s resignation, there was no debate on these Bills, which were passed within minutes. Speaking to The New Indian Express, a senior minister on the condition of anonymity, said that salary hikes for MLAs and ministers were done once in two years earlier, but in Karnataka, for the last seven years, it has not been done.
Placing the Bills before the House, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy said that the State Government has not increased the salary and allowances of the CM, ministers and MLAs since 2015. When asked about the hikes amidst a financial crisis, CM Bommai said the legislators’ salaries have not increased for many reasons in the past many years.
