Request was raised by AAP’s Chaitar Vasava during the discussion on budgetary demands for Finance Dept.
Days after a hike in the salary of MPs was announced, the Gujarat government on Wednesday declared a hike in the salary of MLAs.
Responding to the request of Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Dediapada in Narmada district, Chaitar Vasava, for a hike in the salary of legislators, Finance Minister Kanu Desai said that the government has agreed to implement a hike. The request was made during the discussion on budgetary demands for the Finance Department.
“We have discussed the hike in salary of MLAs with the Chief Minister (Bhupendra Patel) and he has given a consent for the same. How much is the hike will be declared soon,” Minister Desai said in the House on Wednesday.
Vasava had also appealed for a hike in MLA grants. Congress MLA from Khedbrahma in Sabarkantha district, Tushar Chaudhary, too, requested a hike in MLA grants from existing Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 5 crore.
Further, not restricting to salary and grants, Vasava demanded pension for MLAs as well. “I meet several former MLAs whose condition is not good. So I request the Finance Minister to consider pension for MLAs,” Vasava said.
“There is so much expenditure for an MLA. Other than the petrol/diesel or tea/breakfast costs at the office we have to spend when we attend a marriage or funeral, even medicine expenses or school fee for people seeking help. The current salaries are not enough. At the end of the month we end up in debt,” Vasava told The Indian Express.
The basic salary of an MLA in Gujarat is nearly Rs 78,000, while the net salary is around 1.27 lakh.
Talking about pension, he told this paper: “Whenever I meet former MLAs, I see them in pathetic conditions. They are not even able to run their house.”
“In other states like Delhi, Maharashtra and several southern states the grant is Rs 5 crore. With nearly 300 villages in my constituency, not even Rs 50,000 comes for each village under Rs 1.5 crore (grant). So, the grant should be increased too,” he added.
Raising another request for opening service centres of companies installing solar water pumps under the PMKUSUM scheme in each taluka, Vasava stated that against the mandate of 300 feet bore, these companies install at a depth of only 150 feet. “As a result, either the water pumps get damaged or stop working barely after an hour — following which, the companies ask the farmers to visit cities like Ahmedabad to get these repaired, and farmers thus end up wasting their time and money in getting these repaired,” he said.
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