Bhubaneswar: The MLAs of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have urged Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to reconsider the state government’s decision for a threefold hike in the salaries and allowances of legislators in Odisha.

The BJP MLAs submitted a written petition in this regard to the Chief Minister during a meeting at party’s state headquarters in the capital city here today.

In the written petition, the BJP MLAs urged Majhi to reconsider the Bills passed in the Odisha Assembly on December 9 to enhance the salaries and allowances of legislators, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Ministers and Ministers in the state.

“The BJP legislators today urged the Chief Minister to reconsider the proposed hike in the salary and allowances of the MLAs. Respecting the public opinion, they have made a written request in this regard,” revealed Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling.

LoP Naveen had announced to forgo the hiked salary and allowances 

It is worth mentioning here that the Odisha Assembly cleared four Bills providing a threefold hike in the salary and allowances of the legislators in the state.    

The salary of an MLA in Odisha has been revised to Rs 90 from Rs 35,000 while the allowances have been hiked to Rs 2.55 lakh from Rs 65,000.

With the latest revision, the Chief Minister will get a monthly package of Rs 3.74 lakh, Assembly Speaker and Deputy Chief Minister Rs 3.68 lakh, Cabinet Ministers and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rs 3.62 lakh and Minister of State Rs 3.56 lakh. 

However, the move invited criticisms from several quarters. A few days after the passage of the Bills, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Odisha Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, announced that he would forgo the hike in his salary and allowances.

Patnaik wrote to the Chief Minister and urged him to spend the money for the welfare of the poor people of Odisha.