The steep hike in the salary of MLAs, MLCs, Ministers, Speaker, Deputy Speaker and the Leader of Opposition during the financial crisis triggered from the pandemic has come under criticism with the Aam Aadmi Party taking strong objection to the move.
“While salaries of several government department employees have not been paid for several months and they have been protesting on streets, it is shameful that MLAs and Ministers have raised their own wages by 50 to 60 percent,” said Ms Malavika Gubbivani of the Aam Aadmi Party.
She said that the scholarship amount for SC/ST students has been pending with the government for the last one year. Outsourced employees’ wages in hostels run by the Social Welfare Department have not been paid for the last six months. The government has been unable to pay the wages of several Gram Panchayat employees for the last two years.
“Under such a scenario, it is a national tragedy that those who are supposed to protect the interest of the weaker sections, have utilised the session in Assembly to serve their own self-interest,” charged Ms Gubbivani, in a note here.
Last August, when the Delhi Assembly raised the MLA salary to ₹90,000, the BJP strongly opposed it. But now in Karnataka, the salary of MLAs, including all allowances, has been hiked to ₹1,45,000 per month. The salary of Delhi MLAs has been the lowest and even now it is still the lowest in the country. While Delhi MLAs get the lowest salary Karnataka has joined the list of five highest salary paying states in the county. “Do our MLAs have any moral right to receive such a high salary during this period of economic hardship?” she enquired.
