Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday announced the “one MLA, one pension” scheme. Currently, Punjab MLAs get a pension for each term that they have served.
Under the revised policy, irrespective of the number of terms MLAs serve, they will only get one pension. The pension will be worth Rs. 75,000 a month, according to The Indian Express.
Under the new scheme, the Punjab government will save around Rs 80 crore in five years, which will be redirected towards various welfare schemes for the people, Mann said in a video message on Friday.
“You would be surprised to know that MLAs who were elected earlier but have lost since, get pension worth Rs 5-6 lakh every month...This puts a lot of pressure on the state treasury,” said Mann.
Mann noted that some MLAs get double pensions. “There are some who have since moved to become Members of Parliament, and they still get pension for their time as MLAs, in addition to the pension they receive as MPs.”
Punjab’s neighbouring state, Haryana partially did away with multiple pensions in March 2018. MLAs in Haryana are entitled to draw Rs 50,000 per month for their first term, and Rs 2,000 for each year after the first term, according to the Times of India.
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