Bhubaneswar: Close on the heels of increase of salaries, allowances and pensions of Members of Parliament, Odisha Assembly members cutting across party lines demanded their salary revision.
The demand for hike in salaries of MLAs and pension of ex-legislators was placed in the Assembly by main opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) during Zero Hour on Friday.
Raising the issue in the House, BJD chief whip Pramila Mallik said it is necessary to increase the salary and pension in view of inflation and high medical expenses.
Notably, the state government had formed a committee headed by BJP MLA from Udala Bhaskar Madhei to review the demand of the MLAs to increase their salary and pension. The panel has submitted its report with recommendation for revision of salary and pension, Mallik said.
Urging the government to approve the recommendations of the Committee, she said there is a need for increasing salaries of the sitting MLAs. Mallik pointed out that the salaries of MLAs were last hiked in 2017.
Speaking in same vein, deputy chief whip of the opposition Pratap Keshari Deb sought quick steps by the government for execution of the committee report recommending salary and pension hike.
Standing by the BJD on hike of salaries and pensions of MLAs in Odisha, the ruling BJP continued to affirm the proposal in the House.
BJP MLA from Khalikote, Purna Chandra Sethy, said that he could feel the problems of Ex-MLAs due to less pension amount as the former MLA.
While there is Pay Commission for government employees, none is for legislators. The MLAs only have the Madhei Committee’s recommendations to rely on. A legislator cannot manage with just Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000 during visit to his/her constituency, he said urging the Speaker to tell the government to accept the recommendations of Bhaskar Madhei’s committee and implement it retrospectively.
It may be noted that the Centre recently increased the salaries, allowances and pensions of Members of Parliament with effect from April 1, 2023, according to a gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs on Monday.
As per the notification, the salary of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members has been raised to Rs 1.24 lakh per month from Rs 1 lakh at present, whereas the daily allowance has been raised to Rs 2,500 from Rs 2,000 earlier.
The pension paid to former MPs has also been increased to Rs 31,000 per month from Rs 25,000 at present, as per the notification. The additional pension for every year of service in excess of five years has been increased to Rs 2,500 from Rs 2,000 earlier, the notification states.
