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Gujarat lawmakers take 26 minutes to give selves 60% pay hike

The revised remuneration, which is to be enforced retrospectively from December 22, 2017, will set the state's kitty back by over Rs 10 crore a year

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Gujarat lawmakers exhibited uncharacteristic unanimity and swiftness on Wednesday to pass a bill to give themselves an average salary hike of 60 per cent, after a "debate" that lasted a total of 26 minutes. Each of the people's representatives will now draw Rs 1,16,316 a month including perks and allowances, in a significant improvement from Rs 70,727 a month.

The raise for the legislators, as well as office-bearers in the state assembly such as chief minister and his deputy, speaker and his deputy, ministers, leader of opposition, and party whips, translates to more than Rs 45,000 extra for each every month.

The revised remuneration, which is to be enforced retrospectively from December 22, 2017, will set the state's kitty back by over Rs 10 crore a year.

The approval of the bill, introduced by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Pradipsinh Jadeja, came just a day after the opposition bitterly criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over soaring fuel prices. Many legislators had pedalled a bicycle to the state assembly on Wednesday morning in protest.

Once inside the House, though, the rancour vaporised as increments were proposed through the Salaries and Allowances of Members, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, Ministers and Leader of Opposition Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018, with opposition legislators cheering the government's decision.

The bill, nowhere on the order of the day until morning yesterday, became law by afternoon.

The surprise move served the BJP well in pacifying vociferous opposition members, who had been pressing for special announcements for farmers and the public so they might get relief from inflation.

While tabling the bill, Minister Jadeja said the dispensation was only honouring a long-pending demand as MLAs were incurring huge expenses because of population boom in their territories and surge in commodity prices.

Deputy Leader of Opposition Shailesh Parmar said the raise would give Congress members a "respectable position" in the assembly. "MLAs, who are the lawmakers, make less than the junior-most Class I officer, who is an implementer of the law. In fact, the salary should have been revised even more to bring it on a par with that of secretary-level government officers."

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who is the state's finance minister, said, "The state government has increased the salaries of MLAs after accounting for all the factors. It will cost the government Rs 10 crore or more a year. Those who wish to accept the hike can take the increment or refuse it."

Nobody refused it. All Congress MLAs wholeheartedly accepted it. Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, the independent MLA from Vadgam constituency, said he would take the hike but expressed his resentment to the government policy. "The BJP-ruled government is outsourcing the hiring of Class IV employees including sweepers and giving them petty salaries. I register my opposition here, with the demand that their salaries also be increased."

The last revision of pay

The last revision in the pay structure of MLAs and ministers came in April 2009, with retrospective effect from January 2006. This amounted to arrears of 39 months. The salaries including perks jumped from Rs 23,940 to Rs 40,262 a month, and from Rs 25,000 to Rs 49,816, respectively.

An amendment to the bill was made in 2005 in Section 3 of Ministers and MLAs Pay and Allowances Act, 1960, bringing their pay scale on a par with Class I government servants, and suggesting a salary review from time to time.

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