Each state has the power to decide its salary structure for its chief minister and MLAs as per Article 164 (5) of the Indian Constitution
With Karnataka Legislative Assembly passing the new law, Basavaraj Bommai’s salary will go from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. PTI
On Tuesday, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed the Karnataka Ministers Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and The Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2022 without any discussion.
The passage of these two legislations increases the salaries and allowances of the chief minister, ministers, and legislators in the state.
Here’s a look at what these two bills are, and what salaries and perks do chief ministers and MLAs earn across the nation.
Karnataka’s new laws
Ahead of the state budget, the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday passed bills that proposed a hike of 50 per cent in salaries and other allowances for the chief minister, ministers, and legislators, along with the Speaker and Council Chairman.
The new hike will come into effect from 1 April 2022. The Bills also propose to increase the salary once in five years automatically.
The legislations also proposed an increase in allowances, towards the members’ houses, travel, and phone bills.
As per the new legislation, the chief minister will now get Rs 75,000 per month as basic pay, from the earlier Rs 50,000; while the ministers’ salary has increased from Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000.
This apart, they are entitled to get house allowances of Rs 1.2 lakh {from the existing Rs 80,000}, along with Rs 20,000 towards phone bills, Rs 40,000 for constituency allowances, Rs 5,000 for postal charges, and other expenditures.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy was quoted by news agency PTI as saying that the hike was justified as salaries and allowances hadn’t increased from 2015.
“Diesel and petrol rate have exponentially increased, medical allowance is low, and house rent has increased. Considering all this, we have decided to increase half of the existing amount in all these scales,” he said.
How are salaries of chief ministers and MLAs decided?
The passage of the bills in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly puts the spotlight on the allowances of the chief ministers and MLAs across the country.
Notably, the salaries of the chief ministers are different in every state. Article 164 (5) of the Indian Constitution states, “The salaries and allowances of ministers shall be such as the Legislature of the State may from time to time by law determine and, until the Legislature of the State so determines, shall be as specified in the Second Schedule The Advocate General for the State.”
This means that each state decides the salaries that their MLAs, ministers and chief minister receive.
As per news reports published in 2020, K Chandrashekar Rao, the chief minister of Telangana is the highest-paid with a monthly salary of Rs 4.10 lakh.
According to reported information, the total salary that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal draws is Rs 3.9 lakh a month. In August 2021, the Arvind Kejriwal government approved a hike cap recommended by the Centre, which pushed the salary of Delhi MLAs to Rs 90,000 per month — an increase from Rs 53,000.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s Udhav Thackarey takes home Rs 3.4 lakh every month.
Other reports state that Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath receives a monthly salary of Rs 3.65 lakh and allowances.
Prime Minister and President’s allowance
Besides the chief ministers and MLAs, the President of India and prime minister also draw a salary.
President Ram Nath Kovind gets his salary under a law named ‘President’s Achievement and Pension Act, 1951’.
In 2018, the salary of the President was increased from Rs 1,50,000 to Rs 5,00,000 per month. Apart from this, he gets facilities like accommodation, trains, rail and air travel, security, telephone, medical, and insurance in the 340-room Rashtrapati Bhavan at government expense.
After retirement, a pension equal to 50 per cent of the then salary of the post and many facilities are available for life. These include housing at government expense, one vehicle, two telephones, one mobile phone, health services, and free travel anywhere in the highest class with one person.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s salary is decided by Parliament as per Article 75 of the Constitution of India. Along with a monthly salary of Rs 2 lakh, the prime minister also receives several other benefits, including a residence in the capital city of Delhi, Boeing 777-300ERs aircraft with IAF pilots, special security and much more.
With inputs from agencies
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