Odisha’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling gave a notice to the Assembly Secretariat seeking approval of members to withdraw the four amendment Bills. (Credits: Facebook/ Dr. Mukesh Mahaling)
Amid widespread public outrage, the Odisha government Thursday decided to withdraw the four Bills passed in last December to make a three-fold hike in the salary and allowances of MLAs, ministers, chief minister, speaker and deputy speaker.
Odisha’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling gave a notice to the Assembly Secretariat seeking approval of members to withdraw the four amendment Bills, all of which are currently pending for the governor’s assent.
A proposal will be moved in the current session of the Assembly to withdraw the Bills, said officials.
The four amendment Bills– which were passed unanimously — had the provision to raise the monthly salaries and allowances of Odisha MLAs more than three times, from Rs 1.11 lakh to Rs 3.45 lakh/month, the highest in the country. Lone CPI (M) MLA Laxman Munda only opposed the hike.
The salary and allowances of the chief minister, speaker, deputy speaker, deputy chief ministers, ministers, Leader of Opposition and chief whips would be between Rs 3.50 lakh and Rs 3.68 lakh/ month. Former MLAs will get pensions and other allowances worth around Rs 1.17 lakh/month.
Also Read | Salary increase from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3.45 lakh: In face of backlash, BJP MLAs tell Odisha govt to reconsider proposal
According to officials, the decision to hike the salary and allowances of the MLAs and others would have an additional annual financial burden of around Rs 45 crore to Rs 50 crore on the exchequer.
Passage of the amendment Bills triggered widespread criticism and public outrage that forced the MLAs to urge the government for its reconsideration. Considering the public outrage, leader of opposition Naveen Patnaik had first written to the Odisha chief minister announcing to forgo his hiked salary.
Story continues below this ad
A week later, the BJP MLAs held a meeting and submitted a representation to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to review and consider the decision of salary hike. Mahaling said the move was to respect the public sentiment. Subsequently, the opposition BJD and Congress MLAs also urged to withdraw the plan of salary hike of MLAs.
Stay updated with the latest – Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
