J&K CM Omar Abdullah Calls For Assembly Panel To Hike Salaries Of MLAs To Rs 4 Cr From Rs 3 Cr
Acknowledging MLAs’ demand for an increase in Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocations, he said a reasonable hike from Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore per MLA would be considered.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday called for the formation of an Assembly panel, modelled on the lines of Parliament system, to revise MLAs’ salaries, pointing out that their pay had not been revised for the past ten years.
Acknowledging MLAs’ demand for an increase in Constituency Development Fund (CDF) allocations, he said a reasonable hike from Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore per MLA would be considered.
Replying to demands on the grants after three-day-long discussions, he proposed establishing a committee comprising leaders of political parties to implement a structured salary revision mechanism based on the parliamentary model. “In Parliament, salary revisions occur every five years, linked to increases in dearness allowance. A similar system should be adopted for our Assembly to address this issue,” he said.
Abdullah also suggested aligning the CDF guidelines with the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) framework to ensure better fund utilisation. "We acknowledge MLAs’ demand for an increase in CDF allocations. A reasonable hike from Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore per MLA would be considered. He said an MP gets Rs 5 crore," he said.
He assured legislators of an increase in the honorarium of their personal assistants (PAs) and promised to review the pension structure for former MLAs.
"Once a member retires, their financial situation often becomes difficult. This issue needs serious attention," he said while responding to the demands on hiking pensions of former legislators.
However, he rejected the demand from some members to allow minor works under the CDF without tenders, emphasising the need for transparency and proper procedures.
Addressing concerns regarding the distribution of government advertisements, the chief minister assured transparency and fairness.
He said, “Newspapers that rely solely on government ads cannot function as independent media. While we will support media houses, we must discourage the mushrooming of newspapers that exist only to publish government press releases.” He also declared that the Srinagar Press Club would be re-established and a fair election would be held to elect its members.
He emphasised the need for a unified institution, and said that journalists would be responsible for forming a managing committee to oversee its functioning.
Expressing gratitude to legislators for their contributions to the discussions, Abdullah assured them that their concerns had been noted and would be addressed. Following his appeal, MLAs agreed to withdraw cut motions on Demands for Grants.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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