The speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly Prem Chand Agarwal has said that all the members of the house have given their consent for 30 percent deduction in their salary for Covid-19 fund.
The speaker said that after the consent of ruling party members, the assembly secretariat has also received the letter of the leader of Opposition (LoP) Indira Hridayesh in which she has said that the Congress members are ready for the deduction in salary. Agarwal added that Hridayesh in her letter has mentioned that though the state government had not taken the opposition in confidence on the issue but the Congress is giving its consent in view of the greater public interest.
The speaker expressed his gratitude to all the members for giving their consent on deduction and said that now the necessary deduction would be made in the salary of the members.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Uttarakhand government after announcing salary deduction of Chief Minister and other ministers for Covid-19 fund had declared that 30 percent deduction would also be made in the salary of the MLAs.
On the decision, the assembly secretariat had clarified that the deductions can be made only after consent of the members.
Initially very few members gave their consent for the deduction in salary but when the issue came into public domain most of the MLAs belonging to the ruling party gave their acceptance for deduction.
On Thursday the Congress also gave its acceptance for deductions.