Bhubaneswar, : Cutting across party lines, the legislators demanded a hike in their salary and other allowances in the Odisha Legislative Assembly on Saturday.
Raising the issue during the zero-hour, BJP chief whip Mohan Charan Majhi said that the salary paid to the MLAs is less than that of the lawmakers in other states.
MLAs of the state are currently drawing a salary of Rs 99,800 including allowances and it was last hiked on September 9, 2017. As the prices of essential commodities are rising, the salary and other allowances given to the MLAs should also be hiked, demanded Majhi.
Echoing the same view, senior Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati said as the MLAs are attending many social programmes, their spending is increasing.
He demanded a hike in the salary and other allowances paid to the MLAs along with the pension given to former MLAs which is currently only Rs 30,000.
Similarly, BJD MLA Amar Prasad Satpathy also demanded to hike the salary, pension and medical allowances given to the lawmakers in the state.
Independent legislator Makaranda Muduli also echoed the same demand.
