Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) will now get Rs 90,000 per month as salary and allowances as the Arvind Kejriwal Government on Tuesday approved a hike recommended by the Centre on Tuesday.

Earlier,  each MLA was getting Rs 3,000, including Rs 12,000 as salary and the remaining amount as allowances. With this hike, each legislator will get Rs 30,000 as salary and allowances totaling Rs 60,000, the Government said in a statement.

“The restriction imposed by the Centre has forced Delhi’s MLAs to be among the lowest earning legislators in the country whereas MLAs of States ruled by the BJP and the Congress earn around 1.5 to 2 times the amount that the MLAs of Delhi will earn,” it said. “The salary of Delhi’s MLAs has not increased since 2011 and the Delhi Government had requested the MHA to ensure that the salary of Delhi’s MLAs is at par with MLAs of other States, however, the MHA refused to do so,” it added.

“After the approval, the MLAs will get a salary of Rs 30,000 and still be one of the lowest-paid MLAs of the country. Several BJP-ruled States pay  their MLAs 1.5 to 2 times the salary and allowances proposed for Delhi MLAs. Uttarakhand pays Rs 1.98 lakh, Himachal Pradesh Rs 1.9 lakh, Haryana Rs 1.55 lakh, Bihar Rs  1.3 lakh. Other parties also pay their MLAs much higher e.g. the Congress in Rajasthan pays Rs 1.42 lakh and the YSR Congress in Telangana Rs 2.5 lakh,” the Govt said. Salaries and allowances of Delhi MLAs were last increased in 2011 and no hike was enforced in the last 10 years even though the cost of living in Delhi has risen substantially.

Many States provide various other perks and allowances to their MLAs, which the Delhi Government does not provide like house rent allowance, office rent and staff expenses, allowance for buying office equipments, vehicle for usage, driver allowance, etc.