One pension for MLAs

The emphatic public approval of the decision by the newly-formed AAP government to implement the ‘one MLA, one pension’ rule in Punjab was not expected to go unnoticed in other states. A sound precedent had been set and for Haryana’s former legislators, the RTI information listing their pension details could result in quick changes to the payment system on similar lines for them as well, and rightly so. By scrapping the pension for multiple terms that the people’s representatives had legislated for themselves, Punjab had corrected an anomaly that did not stand the test of ethics or propriety. The Bhagwant Mann government claimed it would save Rs 80 crore in five years under the new rule.

The Haryana Government, as per the RTI reply, spends nearly Rs 29.5 crore annually on pension to former MLAs and family pension to spouses of deceased legislators. A former Congress minister tops the list with a neat Rs 2.38 lakh per month, a former Chief Minister pockets Rs 2.22 lakh, while several former MLAs draw pension of more than Rs 1.5 lakh. This in a situation where there is no provision or concept of pension for private sector employees. Particularly intriguing is the fact that wealthy political figures consider nothing inappropriate in their reluctance to restrict themselves to pension for only one term.

The ripple-effect of AAP’s popular move in Punjab was felt in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, with the BJP government deciding to promulgate an ordinance under which all legislators will henceforth pay the income tax on their salaries on their own. The trigger may have been a petition filed before the High Court questioning the tax payment, but the resentment on the ground, too, played its part. The restoration of the old pension scheme is emerging as a key election issue in the hill state, that has a vast chunk of employees in government jobs, who are questioning the denial of pension after years of service when MLAs are entitled to it even after a five-year term.