Over a year after Karnataka legislators were given a 40% hike, the legislators seem to be in the process of pitching for another raise.
The Times of India reports that the MLAs are demanding a raise of 25% on their current salary, which will see a hike in their salary from Rs 1.4 lakh to Rs 1.75 lakh.
A group of legislators are reported to have moved a petition to the assembly speaker KB Koliwad seeking information about the salaries of legislators in other states and a committee will be constituted to address the demand.
The report says that in Delhi, the remuneration of legislators was hiked to Rs 2.10 lakh. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are also reportedly in the process of raising the salaries of legislators to Rs 2 lakh.
Denying seeking increase in salary, Arsikere MLA KM Shivalingegowda told TOI that the petitioners have only sought information about other states to understand where Karnataka stands in terms of salaries for legislators.
“We had requested for a report on salary and emoluments of legislators in other states. We wanted to know where Karnataka stands with regard to the pay package of legislators of other states. We have not demanded a hike,” he was quoted as saying.
MLAs from rural constituencies have been favoring a raise on the grounds that they have to shell out money to address the issues of their respective constituencies.