After five years, the Delhi Cabinet led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday approved a salary hike for the MLAs of Delhi as proposed by the Centre. The MLAs will now get a salary of Rs. 30,000 and will continue to remain among the lowest-paid MLAs. The Ministry of Home Affairs of the BJP-led Central Government restricted the proposal of the Delhi Government and capped the salary of the MLAs to only Rs. 30,000. Even as the cost of living in Delhi has risen substantially, the restriction imposed by the Centre has forced Delhi’s MLAs to be amongst the lowest-earning MLAs in the country whereas MLAs of states ruled by the BJP and the Congress earn around 1.5 to 2 times the amount that the MLAs of Delhi will earn. The salary of Delhi’s MLAs hasn’t increased since 2011 and the Delhi Government had requested the MHA that the salary of Delhi’s MLAs be at par with MLAs of other states, however, the MHA refused to do so.
After the approval, the MLAs will get a salary of Rs. 30,000 and be one of the lowest-paid MLAs in the country. Several BJP ruled states pay to their MLAs 1.5 to 2 times the salary and allowances proposed for Delhi MLAs – Uttarakhand (1.98L), Himachal Pradesh (1.9L), Haryana (1.55L), Bihar (1.3L). Other parties to pay their MLAs much higher e.g. Congress in Rajasthan (1.42L) and YSR Congress in Telangana (2.5L). Salaries and allowances of Delhi MLAs were last increased in 2011, no rise in the last 10 years even though cost of living in Delhi has risen substantially.
Delhi Government had proposed a salary of Rs. 54,000 for the MLAs at par with other states however, the MHA did not allow this to happen and restricted the salary to Rs. 30,000. Now the salary plus allowances of the MLAs of Delhi has been restricted by the MHA to Rs. 90,000. The breakup of their salaries is attached in the photos. Delhi is still among the list of states that pay the least salaries and allowances to its MLAs. Several BJP, Congress and regional party ruled states provide much more salaries to their MLAs, even though living costs in Delhi are higher than in most parts of India. Many states provide many others perk and allowances to their MLAs, which the Delhi Government doesn’t provide like: house rent allowance, office rent, and staff expenses, allowance for buying office equipment, a vehicle for usage, driver allowance, etc. Proposal for an increase in salary and allowances of Delhi MLAs was pending with MHA for the last 5 years. After several discussions, MHA decided to restrict the increase up to Rs 90,000 per month. The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, (Amendment) Bill 2021 and MLAs/Speaker-Dy Speaker/Chief Whip/Leader of Opposition of Legislative Assembly of Delhi (Amendment) Bills 2021. After Cabinet approval, the proposal and draft bills will be sent for MHA’s approval before being placed in Delhi Assembly.