Gujarat Congress MLA demands salary hike

Senior Congress MLA Niranjan Patel today demanded hike in salaries and perks of the 182 members of the Legislative Assembly, saying that the pay structure has not been revised since 2005.
Patel made the demand during his speech in the Assembly on the first day of discussion on the budget allocation for general administration department.
He said he was not asking for a pay hike but wanted the government to at least accept the recommendations of the all-party committee on legislators' salaries and perks.
All the MLAs were in favour of his demand but they were afraid of touching this sensitive subject fearing criticism from media and public, said Patel.

"I am aware that media will take my demand otherwise. Even the government may be having apprehensions about revising salaries of MLAs fearing criticism from various quarters, including voters," he said.
Patel, a five-time MLA from Petlad in Anand district, said that due to low salaries, the MLAs were suffering from "malnutrition".
"We have revised the salaries of MLAs in 2005. After that no significant change in pay structure took place. That is why our MLAs are suffering from malnutrition for the last ten years," he said.
He asked the government to scrap the all-party committee if its recommendations were not to be implemented.