Jharkhand cabinet gives nod to salary hike for lawmakers

RANCHI: The state cabinet on Tuesday approved the salary hike of lawmakers, including members of Jharkhand legislative assembly and assembly staff. An average of 33% hike was proposed and approved.

It was 10th salary hike of the law makers in 17 years after the Jharkhand state was created on 15 November 2000 bifurcating Bihar on the recommendation of the House panel that submitted its report to speaker Dinesh Oraon in March 2017.

Following the approval, the basic salary of the chief minister will go up to ₹80,000 from ₹60,000, while ministers will get ₹65,000 compared to t heir earlier monthly salary of ₹50,000.

Legislators will get the basic of ₹40,000, while the chief whip will be paid ₹50,000 basic salary. Similarly, the Speaker’s basic will jump from ₹55,000 to ₹78,000, while the leader of opposition will now be paid ₹65,000 — a raise of ₹15,000 in basic salary.

The allowances of the CM, speaker, ministers, opposition leader and legislators have also been increased manifold. A minimum hike of ₹30,000 has been approved in monthly allowances.

The cabinet also gave its nod to the proposal of linking public toilets, which have come up under the Swachh Bharat Mission, with Google’s mapping system.

Giving details, cabinet secretary SKG Rahate said the linking would help people locate toilets easily.