Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami on Wednesday tabled a bill proposing a rise in the monthly salary and other allowances of legislators in the state Assembly.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Independent MLA TTV Dhinakaran opposed the bill. DMK Working President MK Stalin, who is the leader of the Opposition, told ANI, “People will laugh at us for this hike when transport workers in the state are on strike demanding a salary hike.”
Transport unions in Tamil Nadu have been on a strike for the last seven days demanding that their salaries be on par with those of the drivers in other government corporations. They want a 2.57% increase in their pay, but the government wants to raise them by only 2.44%.
Palaniswami had announced the near-100% increase in salary for MLAs in July 2017. This takes their monthly pay from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1.05 lakh. He had also announced that the pension for Tamil Nadu MLAs would be raised from Rs 12,000 to Rs 20,000. Funds to develop their respective constituencies would be increased from Rs 2 crore to Rs 2.6 crore.
The announcement had invited criticism as it was made when the state’s farmers were protesting in New Delhi demanding a drought relief package of Rs 40,000 crore, a farm loan waiver and a central government-run Cauvery Management Board.
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