Friday, August 7, 2009

Goa MLAs hike their own salaries

The Goa assembly and its 40 MLAs of all parties and affiliations put their differences aside to rise as one force as both the benches gave themselves sizeable pay hikes while adopting the Goa salary, Allowances and Pensions of Members of Legislative assembly (Third Amendment) Bill 2009, putting an additional burden of over 5.81 crore on the public exchequer by effecting this self directed raise.

It was a rare sight with the ruling benches and the Goa opposition forces speaking in tGoa MLAs hike own payhe same vein, tone and spirit with the Goan MLAs now ready to claim some additional benefits due to the latest decision.

From now on, the house members will be able to benefit on loan repayment period which has been extended to 20 years from the prevailing 10 years while the loan amount has also been increased from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 32 lakh. The leader of the opposition Mr Manohar Parrikar also joined the chorus to suggest that an MLA must be paid well and said that while the increase is substantial, it has been done after a period of five years.

The high cost of living in Goa was also pointed to be another factor necessitating the increase as Goa was a tourist destination. The amendment as above will effectively rise the pension to a maximum level of Rs 50,000 depending on the experience and tenure of the MLA concerned

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