The West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill to increase the salary of MLAs and ministers in the state. The bill had proposed an increase of Rs 40,000 per month to the existing monthly salaries of MLAs and ministers.
However, MLAs of the Opposition BJP, were not present in the House when the Member’s Emoluments (Amendment) Bill 2023 was passed.
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Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was present in the Assembly, said, “I have rightfully increased the salary and I will raise it again if I get a chance.”
Till now, MLAs in Bengal used to get Rs 10,000 per month while ministers of the state used to receive Rs 10,900 per month. The monthly salary of ministers in-charge was Rs 11,000 earlier. Now with the increase, they will get Rs 50,000, Rs 50,900 and Rs 51,000 per month, respectively.
“Those who have a lot of money are shouting, creating a ruckus. There are several MLAs who have assets worth several crores and do not need more,” Banerjee said, taking a swipe at the BJP MLAs who had criticised the decision to increase the salary of legislators.
Meanwhile, the chief minister also said that it was not mandatory for the state government to pay dearness allowance (DA) to its employees.
Speaking at the Assembly, Banerjee made an apparent reference to agitating state government employees, who have been demanding DA at par with Central government employees, and reminded them about the extra annual leaves they get as well as her government allowing them to go abroad.
“DA is not mandatory, it’s just an option. Central government employees work under the central structure while the state government employees are under the state structure. If anyone wants, they can join the central government service. The Centre gives fewer holidays but our government gives holidays for all occasions,” said Banerjee.
“They get only 3 to 4 extra days off in a year, but here we have 40 days. You have to add value for that. This government is the only one who has given them the opportunity to go abroad. We are the only state which gives pensions to its employees. Many have asked me to stop it so that the interest goes down. But I have said that life is not over by 60 years, people live for another 20-30 years. How will they run the family?” she added.
A section of state government employees have been demonstrating for several months demanding to raise their DA and bring it at par with the central government employees.