Cabinet nod to 33% salary hike for Bihar lawmakers

The state cabinet on Tuesday recommended 33% hike in salary of legislators, substantial increase in their allowances and enhancement of former lawmakers’ pension.

The increase in pay and perks will come into effect from December 1, after the same is ratified by the state legislature in its winter session, commencing from November 26.

A senior officer of the cabinet coordination department said after the hike, members of legislative assembly (MLAs) and the members of legislative council (MLCs) would be paid salary of Rs 40,000 per month against the existing Rs 30,000. They would also be paid constituency allowance of Rs 50,000 per month, up by Rs 5,000. Similarly, the allowance for stationary had also been raised from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 per month, the officer said.

The salary and allowances of Bihar legislators were increased last time in 2014 when Jitan Ram Manjhi was the chief minister.

The officer said the legislators would be entitled to travel coupon worth Rs 3 lakh per year against Rs 2 lakh earlier. Besides, they would also be entitled to vehicle loan up to Rs 15 lakh against the previous limit of Rs 10 lakh.

Private assistants of the legislators also have something to cheer about. From December onwards, they would be getting a salary of Rs 30,000 per month against Rs 20,000 paid earlier.

The cabinet also approved the cabinet secretariat department’s proposal to revise the pension of former legislators. Former legislators with one year tenure in the legislature will be entitled to pension of Rs 35,000 against the previous amount of Rs 25,000 per month. Their pension amount will increase at Rs 3,000 per month for every additional year served as legislators. Earlier, their pension used to increase by Rs 2,000 per month for every additional year of their term in the legislature.