Pension of former MLAs will increase, proposal to increase travel allowance also, Chhattisgarh government introduced bill
Talking to reporters, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ravindra Choubey said that the Bill will be passed in the House in the next few days.
In the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly, the state government on Monday (March 20, 2023) introduced an amendment bill in which it is proposed to increase the pension and traveling allowance of the former legislators of the state. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ravindra Choubey introduced the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly Member Salary, Allowance, Pension (Amendment) Bill in the Vidhan Sabha today.
Proposal to increase the pension of former MLAs from Rs 35 thousand to Rs 58,300
Speaking to reporters, Choubey said the bill would be passed in the House in the next few days. In the bill introduced in the assembly, it is proposed to increase the pension of former MLAs from Rs 35 thousand to Rs 58,300. As per the Bill, the former MLA will also be entitled to an additional pension of Rs 1,000 per month for every one year after his first term of membership (more than five years term).
Proposal to increase railway and air allowance
The Bill states that each sitting member will be entitled to an allowance of Rs 10 lakh per annum for rail/air travel instead of the existing Rs 8 lakh per annum. At the same time, for former MLAs, this allowance will be increased from Rs 4 lakh per year to Rs 5 lakh per year. Apart from this, former MLAs will be entitled to get telephone allowance and orderly allowance of Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively.
An additional annual burden of Rs 16.96 crore will be imposed on the state exchequer.
Officials pointed out that earlier there was no provision for telephone and orderly allowance for ex-members. He said that the increase in pension and allowances is likely to put an additional annual burden of about Rs 16.96 crore on the state exchequer. In the month of July last year, the Vidhan Sabha passed a bill to increase the salaries of the Chief Minister, Speaker, Ministers and MLAs, which caused an annual burden of Rs 6.81 crore on the state exchequer. The Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly has 90 members.