India’s first woman President Pratibha Patil will also be the first President to have a salary of Rs one lakh per month.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared a proposal to hike not only the Presidential salary but also the emoluments of the Vice-President, governors, former Presidents and spouses of deceased ex-Presidents and ex-Vice-Presidents.

While the President’s salary still remains a pittance when compared to the corporate salaries drawn by even middle-level employees across lucrative sectors, nevertheless it still will be a doubled pay packet now, up from the Rs 50,000 per month. The Vice-Presidential salary has been increased from Rs 40,000 to Rs 85,000 per month, while that of governors has been raised from Rs 36,000 to Rs 75,000 per month, Information & Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi said after a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh cleared the proposals.

The hike, which will be effected retrospectively from January 1, 2007, was necessitated because of the realisation that while MPs drew a monthly salary of Rs 68,000, the Vice-President, who is the presiding officer of the Upper House, was drawing a much lesser salary than them.

Ex-Presidents will now get emoluments worth Rs six lakh per year, and spouses of deceased Presidents and Vice-Presidents will get more facilities accordingly, Mr Dasmunsi said.