EXMLAS’ BODY DEMANDS HIKE IN PENSION, FACILITIES

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana ex-mlas’ association, which held its executive committee meeting here on Saturday, demanded that the state government hike their pension and other facilities.

Later while addressing mediapersons, association president Nafe Singh Rathi, a former twotime INLD MLA from Bahadurgarh constituency, who was accompanied by several former MLAS from different parties, including Ran Singh Maan, Naresh Sharma, Rambir Singh, Bhag Singh and DD Atri, said that the association had met chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and others with the said demands, but to no avail.

Rathi said that while they got a monthly pension of ₹10,000, several states including the Bjpruled Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Himachal Pradesh governments gave ₹20,000, ₹30,000, ₹20,000 and ₹36,000, respectively to former MLAS. In Maharashtra, it was ₹50,000 and Karnataka, ₹40,000, he said.

“Also, the former MLAS of Haryana got other facilities such as medical reimbursement and travel allowance far less than their counterparts in the country,” he said, adding that the ruling BJP government had also stopped dearness allowance over the past two years.

Rathi further rued that though the state assembly had agreed to hike the pension and allowances in the last budget session in 2017, it had yet not framed any policy for the same. According to Rathi, all the members of the association—there are about 290 former MLAS in the state—had also been demanding medical facilities.