Maharashtra State ministers and MLAs to get hefty salary hike

Chief minister Chavan has proposed a substantial hike in salaries and perks for himself, the deputy chief minister, ministers, ministers of state, presiding officers, opposition leaders and legislators. 
"The cabinet has approved the proposal. Once it is brought to the notice of both Houses, an official circular will be promulgated to give effect to the cabinet decision," a senior Congress minister said.
The minister said there was no doubt that the CM and cabinet members were entitled to a furnished bungalow and adequate secretarial staff, but their pay packages were meagre compared to the private sector and bureaucracy. "Look at the salary packages of bureaucrats and the IPS top-brass . A fresh IAS or IPS officer draws a monthly salary of Rs 40,000-45,000, whereas the CM's monthly salary is less than Rs 30,000," he said. 

New pay burden will be Rupees 55 crore 

They too get furnished accommodation like cabinet members, but their monthly salaries, particularly after implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission, were satisfactory. 

The minister admitted that at a time when the state's debt burden had crossed the Rs 1.91 lakh crore mark, and when it was paying well over Rs 16,000 crore per year as interest on loans, Chavan's decision was bound to attract huge criticism . "It's a fact that we are enhancing salaries when the state is passing through an economic crisis, but the salary hike is inevitable," he said. 

The cabinet member said that while the annual burden on the state exchequer towards the salaries and allowances of ministers was Rs 35 crore, with the revised pay package, it will be Rs 55 crore. "Compared to the Plan size and non-planned expenditure of the state, the amount is meagre," he said. 

Chavan has proposed an increase in basis salary, and the telephone, daily meeting and conveyance allowances from Rs 29,000 per month to Rs 67,000. "Compared to the status of a cabinet member, it's meagre," he said.

Source : The Times of India