Flak Over Move To Hike Salaries Of MLAs, MLCs

The proposed move of the TRS government to grant a hefty hike in the salaries to the MLAs, MLCs and those holding cabinet-rank posts in the State has not only come in for a lot of criticism from various quarters, but has also triggered a political debate on whether such a step was justifiable when debt-ridden farmers were committing suicides in the State.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao held discussions with senior officials of the State administration and the State legislature on Tuesday following a representation made by all-Party elected representatives on the imperative need to raise their salaries from the present Rs. 95,000, three-fold.

The present burden on the State government of the salaries of the elected representatives is Rs. 14.94 crores per annum. The Chief Minister seemed to have observed that this was just a miniscule percentage of the total budget of Rs. 1.15 lakh crores being passed by these leaders in the legislature bodies. Moreover, taking the present-day costs and also the expenditure involved in touring the constituencies, holding meetings etc., the CM seemed to have felt that there was justification in the demand being made by the legislators, who also cited the whopping hike granted by the Delhi government recently.

However, a decision will be taken only after a discussion in the Amenities Committee headed by the Assembly Speaker and after the required amendments are made to the existing laws. Only after all these exercises are completed and implemented will the ministers, Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Council Chairman and Deputy Chairman, government whips and the Leader of Opposition, besides MLAs and MLCs, be benefited by the bonanza.

The proposed move has already raked up a heated debate in various circles, in which the TRS government was targeted for its insensitivity as it was considering raising the salaries of the legislators at a time when it was blaming the Central government for not providing the required funds to the State to tackle various issues like drinking water needs, farmers' problems and the prevailing drought conditions in many mandals of the State. It's being reminded even of the apathy on the part of the administration in coming to the rescue of the prestigious NIMS hospital where operations have been stopped for the past two days for want of water.

Congress Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao said that that though he was not against the government move, he felt that this was not the appropriate time given the State was reeling under acute drought conditions, scarcity of drinking water and farmer suicides. The TRS government should first resolve those issues rather than hurry up to grant pay hikes for leaders. Can KCR afford to be compared to Nero fiddling while Rome was burning?