The News Minute | March 30, 2015 | 5.24 pm ISTMLAs in Karnataka just gave themselves a big pay hike, making them the highest paid legislators in the south.The Assembly approved an amendment to the Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances Act, 1956 raising the salaries and allowances for MLAs, cabinet ministers and the chief minister. The state has beaten Andhra Pradesh and Telangana which pay MLAs a total of Rs 1.2 lakh a month, perks included. Tamil Nadu pays Rs 55,000 and Kerala Rs 39,500. Before Karnataka was spending Rs 24.3 crore and is now expected to shell out around Rs 40 crore. Currently, MLAs get Rs 90,000 including allowances after a 73 percent hike in salary in 2011.Read: Ever wondered how much MLAs in South India earn?Here’s a break up:MLAsSalary after the hike (previous salary)Basic salary - 25,000 (20,000)Constituency allowance - 40,000 (25,000)Constituency travel allowance - 40,000 (15,000)Phone allowance - 20,000 (15,000)Postal allowance - 5,000 (unchanged)Allowance for Personal Assistant - 10,000 (unchanged)Total – Rs 1.4 lakh Over and above this amount, MLAs are entitled to others allowances that have also been raised. These include travel allowance Rs 25 per kilometer (raised from Rs 20); daily allowance within the state Rs 2,000 (raised from Rs 1,000); daily allowance outside the state Rs 2,500 (raised from Rs 1,500); hotel allowance Rs 5,000 (newly introduced); railway allowance Rs 2 lakh (unchanged). TweetFollow @thenewsminute