Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
Jammu: The rules for the Union Territory’s unicameral legislature being still ‘pending’, salary of all the 82 Members of Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister and 5 Ministers for the last three months has been released as per the structure which was in vogue for the erstwhile State Assembly.
According to authoritative sources, the MLAs, who were declared elected on 8 October 2024 and sworn in on 21 October, had been pressing hard as they had not received any monthly salaries in the last three months. Even as the Legislative Assembly Secretariat in coordination with the Government’s Department of Law and Parliamentary Affairs and the Department of Finance, was waiting for necessary amendments in the rules, authorities decided to release the salaries as per the old pay structure.
“This is a temporary arrangement. They will be paid their salaries and perks as and when the rules are finalised and approved by the competent authority”, said a well-placed official. He said that the Government as well as the Speaker were seized of the matter and the MLAs’ demand of a pay hike in the salaries, pensions and allowances. Since the last enhancement had been done in July 2016, there is a stark possibility of a substantial increase in the salaries of the MLAs and Ministers.
“The Salaries and Allowances of Members of the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature Act, 1960” has been amended several times since the day it came into force retrospectively from 26 January 1960 with the assent of the then Sadr-e-Riyasat on 14 April 1960 and was published in the gazette on 29 April 1960.
When the Legislative Assembly of the erstwhile State was dissolved in November 2018, MLAs were entitled to payment of Rs 1.60 lakh, which included a monthly salary of Rs 80,000 and aggregate allowances worth an equal amount. They were also authorised by law to approve community development works to the tune of Rs 3 crore per year as the Constituency Development Fund (SDF). They also used to have a Personal Assistant for secretarial assistance whose salary was paid by the Assembly Secretariat as long as he or she remained attached to an MLA.
During Mehbooba Mufti’s Government in July 2016, the J&K Assembly unanimously passed a bill, without any amendments. The MLA’s salary was doubled from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,60,000.
The Chief Minister’s overall monthly earnings, which stood at Rs 90,000, was increased to Rs 1.15 lakh, which included allowances. Similarly, Cabinet Ministers’ salary was increased from Rs 85,000 to Rs 1.10 lakh, while that of the Ministers of State was hiked from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1.05 lakh per month.
The bill also addresses the financial well-being of former legislators, significantly enhancing their monthly pensions from Rs 28,000 to Rs 50,000. In addition to this increase, they continue to receive Rs 5,000 per month as a medical allowance.
Since the revocation of Article 370 and the introduction of The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the determination of MLA compensation has shifted. As per the Act, members of the Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir will receive salaries and allowances as decided by the Legislative Assembly itself, through law. However, until the Assembly enacts such provisions, the Lieutenant Governor retains the authority to determine these salaries by order.
Sources said that the Cabinet had sent a recommendation to the LG regarding enhancement of salaries and perks to the MLAs. With the same still pending, it was decided that the MLAs and Ministers would be paid the salaries of October, November and December 2025 as per the old pay structure. As regards the MLAs’ demand of releasing the CDF, sources said that they would be getting an authorisation to the order of Rs 2.80 crore, beginning with 1 April 2025, the first day of the new financial year.
