Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government said a joint parliamentary committee has favoured a revision of the salaries and allowances of MLAs.
The panel’s view came five months after the state government withdrew bills recommending a three-fold increase in salaries and perks of legislators following public outrage.
The Parliamentary Affairs Department, in a statement Sunday, said the committee examined the salaries and perks of sitting and former members of the assembly and compared the package with that of assemblies of other states and Parliament.
The state government officials submitted documents related to pay, allowances and allied facilities available to legislators in other states before the joint parliamentary committee.
“After examining the documents, the joint committee felt that Odisha’s present pay structure for sitting MLAs and former MLAs needs revision,” the statement said.
Odisha’s BJP government March 26 withdrew four bills passed in the Assembly, but awaiting the governor’s assent on a three-fold increase in the salaries, allowances, and pensions of MLAs, ministers, chief minister, speaker, and deputy speaker.
In the bills, which got the nod of the House in December last year, provisions were made to raise the monthly salary and allowance of MLAs from Rs 1.11 lakh to Rs 3.45 lakh, one of the highest in the country.
Meanwhile, Opposition BJD MLA Ganeswar Behera said that there is a need to increase the salary and pension of current and former legislators, respectively, in Odisha as they are much less than those in other states.
“Our position is at 24th in the table of state assemblies in the country,” he said.
Behera said the financial condition of several ex-MLAs was precarious and they are unable to meet medical expenditure.
An ex-MLA gets Rs 30,000 as pension per month.
Headed by MP Birendra Prasad Baishya, the joint parliamentary committee has MPs Bijay Kumar Dubey, Beena Devi, K Gopinath, Babu Singh Kushwaha and Richard Vanlalhmangaiha, Parliament Director Bhatshala Joshi, Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling and assembly secretary Satyabrata Rout as members.