BHUBANESWAR: Days after the state Assembly unanimously passed the bill to raise the salary and perks of members including Speaker, chief minister, deputy CMs, ministers and MLAs, leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik on Saturday refused to accept the hiked amount and urged the government to spend it on welfare of the poor people of the state instead.
In a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Naveen said, “I have been blessed by the love, affection and support of the people of Odisha for the past more than 25 years. I am highly indebted to the people of Odisha and their love towards me and my late father Biju Patnaik.”
Recalling his family’s decision in 2015 to donate their ancestral property ‘Anand Bhawan’ in Cuttack for public use, Naveen said, “In the same spirit, I would like to forgo the salary and allowances hiked for Leader of Opposition which the Odisha Legislative Assembly has recently passed. I would like to request you to utilise the same for the welfare of poor people of our state.”
The decision of Naveen to surrender his salary came at a time when the MLAs, ministers and chief minister have received a backlash for effecting more than three-fold hike in their salary and making themselves the highest paid legislators in the country. The Assembly approved the salary hike with retrospective effect from June 2024 even as different teachers associations have been spending nights under open sky in the capital city demanding pay regularisation with pension provisions.
The Assembly on December 9 approved a hefty hike in the salary and allowances ranging from Rs 3.45 lakh (MLA) to Rs 3.74 lakh (chief minister). The salary and allowances of the leader of Opposition is equivalent to cabinet minister at Rs 3.62 lakh.