Salary- allowances of MLAs increased
Assembly: The demands of the MLAs were fulfilled yesterday. Their salaries and allowances have been increased. The pension of former MLAs has also been increased. Three separate bills related to this have been passed in the Assembly. This salary increase will take effect from June 2024. From now on, the salary of MLAs will increase naturally every five years. And no bill will have to be brought in the Assembly. The salary of MLAs was last revised in 2017. After the revision in 2017, the MLAs were getting Rs 35,000 per month as basic salary. However, if allowances are added, it is around Rs 1 lakh per month. Now, the basic salary has been revised to Rs 90,000 per month. If other allowances are added, a total of Rs 3.45 lakh per month will be received. In addition, they will also get a sitting allowance to attend the Assembly sessions and standing committee meetings. The allowances include constituency allowance of 75,000, travel allowance of 50,000, newspaper allowance of 10,000, electricity bill of 20,000, personal visit allowance of 50,000, medical allowance of 35,000, and telephone allowance of 15,000.
The Chief Minister’s basic salary has been increased from Rs 41,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Including other allowances, the Chief Minister will get around Rs 3,74,000 per month. Similarly, the basic salary of Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State has been increased to Rs 96,000 and Rs 94,000, respectively. Including allowances, they will get around Rs 3,60,000 per month. The Chief Minister and Ministers will also get additional sitting allowance for various meetings. The Speaker and Deputy Speaker will get around Rs 3,60,000 in salary and allowances. The monthly pension amount of former MLAs has also been increased. Their monthly basic pension has increased from Rs 30,000 to Rs 80,000. Those who have been elected as MLAs for more than 5 years will get an additional pension of Rs 3,000 per year for each additional year. They will get Rs 25,000 per month as medical allowance. For the first time, former MLAs will get Rs 12,500 as monthly travel expenses.
In this regard, three bills were passed in the Assembly today. These are the Odisha Assembly Members’ Salary, Allowances, and Pension Amendment Bill-2025, the Odisha Ministers’ Salary and Allowance Amendment Bill-2025, and the Odisha Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker’s Salary and Allowance Amendment Bill-2025. These bills are about the salary, allowances, and pension of the members of the Assembly, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, ministers, government chief secretaries, and deputy chief secretaries, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling. The salary of the MLAs was last revised in 2017. During this, the salary of the members of Parliament and MLAs of other states has been revised and increased manifold. MLAs and former MLAs had been repeatedly requesting an increase in salary and pension. This amended bill has made a provision that the salaries of MLAs and others will be increased once every 5 years. Therefore, it can be increased by government notification without discussion in the assembly. This bill was supported by MLAs Bhaskar Madhei, Sanatan Bijuli, Purna Chandra Sethi, Ganeswar Behera, Dasharathi Gamango, Santosh Kumar Khatua, Ramachandra Kadam, Bhadav Hansda, and Pramila Mallick. The bill was passed unanimously.
