Delhi Assembly sets up independent panel for MLAs’ salary revision

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Friday constituted a four-member independent committee chaired by former Secretary General of Lok Sabha, PDT Achary, to undertake a comprehensive study of the structure of salary and allowances prevalent in the country and to recommend revision of salary, allowances and other facilities for members of Delhi Legislative Assembly. The committee has been directed to submit the report within 30 days.

“This is for the first time in our country, that such a committee is constituted to look into the salary and allowances of MLAs. Prior to this, the practice has been that the MLAs themselves have been deciding on <g data-gr-id="18">revision</g> of their own salary and allowances,” said Goel. 

The other members of the committee are – K V Prasad, Associate Editor of The Tribune, Balraj S Malik, a Supreme Court advocate and Secretary of Delhi Vidhan Sabha, Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara, as member secretary of the committee.

Prasad has a long experience of reporting in Parliament and on several panels of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha besides working with US Congress as a Fulbright Fellow (2007-08).

The terms of reference of the committee is to undertake a comprehensive study of the structure of salary and allowances prevalent in various states and the Parliaments of the countries, to undertake a comparative study of similar structure in various Parliaments and provincial legislatures in different countries, to recommend revision of salaries, allowances and other facilities for Members of Legislative Assembly, NCT of Delhi, in a comprehensive manner so as to enable them to discharge their duties with higher degrees of efficiency, to look into the possibility of evolving a 

transparent and scientific mechanism for periodic revision of salary and allowances of legislators, to recommend revision of pension and other facilities for retired MLAs and to take up any other relevant matter with prior approval of the Speaker.