Telangana Assembly passes bill to hike MLAs' salaries

Hyderabad: The Telangana Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to hike legislator`s salaries and allowances of the state legislators including the Chief Minister, Speaker, deputy Speaker of Assembly, Council of Ministers, chairman and deputy chairman of Legislative Council, Leader of Opposition in Assembly and Council, Government Whips, MLAs and MLCs.

The bill was introduced by the Telangana Government yesterday in the Legislative Assembly.

The MLAs and the MLCs who are paid Rs. 12,000 as salary and Rs. 83,000 towards allowances will now be getting a salary of Rs. 20,000 and allowances of Rs. 2.30 lakh.

The Chief Minister`s salary has increased from Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 51,000 per month, although the allowances remain the same.

In the state, where several debt-ridden farmers have ended their lives since June, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao last year announced that the salaries of all the legislators will be doubled.

Following the hike in the salaries of the Telangana MLAs and MLCs, lawmakers in Andhra Pradesh are now demanding a similar increase.