State planning to bring bill to revise salaries of legislators, says minister

The state government is preparing to introduce a bill to revise the salaries of chief minister, speaker, Leader of Opposition, and MLAs, law minister HK Patil said on Tuesday.

- HT Correspondent

BENGALURU:

"We will bring in legislation for salary revisions to chief minister, speaker, Leader of Opposition, and MLAs. Percentage is to be decided. We will bring legislation for salary revision," Patil said. The proposal has reportedly received approval from the Siddaramaiah-led Business Advisory Committee.

Besides the proposed salary hike, chief minister Siddaramaiah is also considering to allocate 20 crore for the construction of a Legislators' Club. Patil said that concerns had been raised regarding the lack of facilities at the existing guest house, leading to discussions on the issue. "There were complaints about no facilities at the guest house. This issue was mentioned. The speaker has spoken to the CM, who said that he would consider this proposal," Patil said.

The decision came after Congress MLA Ashok Pattan urged the government to allocate significant funds for the club, which has been a long-pending demand. The state is reportedly looking at the heritage Balbrooie Guest House as a possible location for the club, according to an official.

The push for another salary hike follows a significant revision in 2022, during which the salaries of MLAs, MLCs, ministers, the speaker, deputy speaker, and the leader of opposition were increased considerably. At the time, the monthly salary for MLAs and MLCs rose from ₹25,000 to ₹40,000, while pensions for legislators who completed a single term increased from ₹40,000 to ₹50,000.

Other allowances also saw an upward revision, including travel allowances, which increased from 25 to 35 per kilometre, daily allowances for meetings within Karnataka, which went up from ₹2,000 to ₹2,500, and those outside the state, which rose from ₹5,000 to ₹7,000. Local transport allowances outside Karnataka doubled to ₹2,000, while the monthly constituency allowance saw an increase from ₹40,000 to ₹60,000.