JOIN USCM, ministers pay packets get fatter
The Karnataka Ministers Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2011, and the Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2011, were passed in the two Houses just before the “extended” Budget session ended on the fourth day. The two Bills now await governor’s nod before coming into effect. The hikes will cost the state exchequer over Rs 25 crore a year.
As per the amendments, the monthly salaries of the chief minister and cabinet ministers go up by 250 per cent – from Rs 12,000 at present to Rs 30,000 in the case of the chief minister, and from Rs. 10,000 to Rs 25,000 for cabinet ministers.
The monthly salary of MLAs and MLCs will double—from Rs 10,000 at present to Rs 20,000. Besides, the salaries, the amendments also provide hefty increases in other allowances which form an attractive part of the package for elected representatives.
The chief minister’s annual sumptuary allowance will go up to Rs 1.50 lakh from Rs 75,000. Similarly, the sumptuary allowances for ministers too will go up from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh per annum.
While a cabinet minister will take home at least Rs 95,000 a month in salary and allowances, a legislator will get a monthly pay of around Rs 80,000. They will get Rs 20 per km of travel, Rs 4 lakh annually for travelling by air or train outside the state.
Ministers who have not been provided with government accommodation in the state capital will get a monthly house rent allowance of Rs 40,000 a month as against Rs 20,000 at present.
Conveyance allowance
Ministers and legislators who at present are eligible to get 500 litres of petrol for conveyance every month will an additional 250 litres a month. And, their telephone allowance goes up from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month.
The salaries of the Speaker, the chairman, both deputy speaker and deputy chairman, chief whips of both Houses and all those holding minister of state rank have also gone up. All allowances have been hiked manifold.
Though the amendment bills were drafted many months ago, the government had not introduced them in the legislature. The hikes were proposed on grounds of considerable increases in cost of living since the salaries and allowances since the last revision.
