Karnataka Assembly passes bills to hike salaries of CM, ministers, MLAs by 50%

Karnataka today passed two Bills to raise the salaries and allowances of Chief Minister, Ministers and legislators. Faced with disruption for the fifth consecutive day, due to protests by Congress MLAs demanding the sacking of Minister KS Eshwarappa over his statement on the national flag, the session was cut short, but not before passing two bills without discussion.

The Karnataka Assembly session that began on February 14 was scheduled to conclude on February 25. It has now been adjourned till March 4 for the budget session.

Congress legislators have been staging "day-and-night" protests, spending the nights inside the Assembly, and staging demonstrations from the Well of the House during the day, disrupting proceedings, which Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has called



"irresponsible".

But amid all the protests, the House managed to pass two bills - the Karnataka Ministers' Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pensions and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2022 - and adopted the motion of thanks to the Governor's address without any deliberations.

The state, while moving the Bills, said that they were long pending and cited a considerable increase in the cost of living. The hikes will result in a recurring, additional expenditure of nearly Rs 92.4 crore per year.

The Bill on the ministers' salaries and allowances proposes to increase the Chief Minister's salary from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 per month, the ministers' salaries from Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 per month, and the sumptuary allowance for both from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh per year.