This Article is From Dec 04, 2015

BJP Boycotts Voting on Bill for Hiking Delhi Lawmakers' Salary

BJP Boycotts Voting on Bill for Hiking Delhi Lawmakers' Salary

The salary hike had been called for by a section of lawmakers in July.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today staged a walkout from the Delhi Assembly during voting on the bill for hiking salaries, allowances and pensions of lawmakers.

"We boycotted the voting on the bill and walked out of the House to register our protest over the lawmakers prioritising their own interests and raising their own salaries by a mammoth 400 per cent," said Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta.

"At a time when sanitation workers of municipal corporations are demanding regular salaries and payment of arrears, the 400 per cent hike in salaries of MLAs is condemnable," he said.

The Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Government of NCT of Delhi (Salaries, Allowances, Pension) Amendment Bill 2015 providing for hike in basic salaries of legislators from current Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 and rise in their overall monthly package from existing Rs 88,000 to around Rs 2.1 lakh was passed by the House dominated by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmakers.

Mr Gupta also criticised the government for "imposing" condition for implementing the recommendations of the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission report tabled o Wednesday.

"The Kejriwal government must immediately implement recommendations of the Fourth Delhi Finance Commission report without the condition of its implementation by the Centre," he said.

BJP strongly demands the Delhi Government to implement recommendations of the Commission without any condition so that municipal corporations get their financial dues, he said.

The Leader of Opposition also termed the fine imposed upon BJP MLA OP Sharma for allegedly breaking a mike in the Assembly as "unjustified" and demanded that it be "annulled".

Delhi Assembly's Ethics Committee has recommended recovery of the cost incurred on replacing the mike allegedly damaged by Mr Sharma during the Budget Session in June this year.
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