It is recommended to increase the allowances of ministers and MLAs in the state. The recommendations were contained in the report submitted by the Justice Ramachandran Nair Commission appointed to study the salary hike. The Commission has recommended an increase in allowances and benefits from 30% to 35%. It is suggested that there should be an increase in various allowances like travel expenses, phone facility, treatment, accommodation etc.
Justice Ramachandran Nair was appointed as a commission by the government following the demand for timely revision of benefits and allowances in the face of high day-to-day expenses. When the commission was appointed as per the decision of the Cabinet meeting last July, the tenure was six months. This was later reduced to three months when it came down as an order.
After the studies, the commission submitted its report to the government two weeks ago. The commission has not proposed any change in the basic pay. But the main attention was given to the allowances including TA. 15 per TA km should be increased to 20 rupees, the commission suggested.
The salary increase was implemented in 2018 before this. According to this, Ministers are currently paid Rs 97,429 and MLAs are paid Rs 70,000. A good part of this is allowances. The Ramachandran Nair Commission has also given a recommendation to increase the allowances this time as well. But it remains to be seen whether the cabinet meeting will approve this as the government is under financial pressure. It is believed that there will be no hasty decision during the severe economic crisis.
“MLAs and ministers are not allocated much as salaries. Although there was such a proposal during the last commission, it was suggested that all of them should not increase their salaries and it is enough to increase the allowances on time. Because of such a position, the basic salary has not been changed. It has been recommended to raise it up to 35 percent. It is up to the government to decide,” said Justice Ramachandran Nair.