INDIA E POST CHANDIGARH JULY 1, 2022

Punjab Vidhan Sabha’s budget session concluded on Thursday with the passage of four bills, including the one to discontinue the earlier practice of giving multiple term pensions to the former legislators amidst a fiery exchange of words between the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa.

With the passage of ‘The Punjab State Legislatures Members (Pension and Medical Facilities Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2022, the former legislators will get pension for a single term — a move expected to save Rs 19.53 crore annually.

Now, the former MLA, irrespective of the number of terms he had served as a member and irrespective of the tenures of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, in which he had served as a member, will get a pension of Rs 60,000 per month-plus-Dearness Allowance (DA) thereon (as admissible to the Punjab Government pensioners).

However, when a former MLA will attain the age of 65, 75, and 80, he or she shall, respectively, be entitled to an increase of five per cent, 10 per cent, and 15 per cent of the basic pension, admissible to him or her at the attainment of such age.

As per the earlier provisions an ex-MLA used to get Rs 15,000 per month pension plus Dearness Allowance thereon (as admissible to the Punjab Government Pensioners) for the first term, and an additional 15,000 plus Dearness Allowance thereon (as admissible to the Punjab Government Pensioners) for every subsequent term irrespective of the tenures of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, in which he or she had served as a member.

As the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer tabled the Bill, Congress MLA from Jalandhar Cantt Pargat Singh insisted on keeping in mind the protocol while deciding on MLA’s pension. “An MLA’s protocol is equal to that of the Chief Secretary…I agree that every former MLA should be given one pension only…But, at the same time, it should be ensured that their pay and pension should be higher, or at least equivalent to the Chief Secretary keeping in mind the protocol which says that the posts of the MLA and that of Chief Secretary are equal,” he said.

Joining in, SAD MLA Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi appreciated the decision but maintained that MLAs should given due respect, and should not be downgraded. Insisting that all MLAs should not be categorised into one as there are many who actually wanted to serve the people and are not “chor”, he pointed that there are members in the House who do not have regular source of income and thus while taking any decision, their condition should also be kept in the mind.

Participating in the debate on the Bill, Bajwa also insisted that one should not generalise and dub all MLAs as “beimaan” or “thugs”. He added that we should pay them (MLAs) well, so that no one will think of indulging in such practices as many wanted to work in good faith and serve the people.

Intervening, Mann said that the Bill was not regarding MLA’s salaries or other benefits, but regarding pensions of former MLAs. Countering Bajwa and other MLAs’ argument to ensure MLAs’ salary is equivalent or higher than that of a Chief Secretary, Mann said: “An officer becomes eligible for pension only after 20 years of service…MLA is elected for five years…And after five years, you wanted to have pension equivalent to an IAS, CS?? A young man, who becomes MLA at the age of 27, becomes eligible for pension just after five years, in such a scenario it is unfair to equate both.”

Taking Bajwa head-on, Mann asked, “Why you apply for that job when you know about the salary…Do something else.”

Angered Bajwa retorted asking the Chief Minister why he always make everything “so dramatic…Why are you always playing to the gallery?”

Continuing, Mann added that a committee is already in place to review MLAs’ salaries. Responding to Bajwa, who could not be heard as his mike was off, Mann said that the Congress should not have any expectations from them… “We are accountable to the people,” he added.

Further taking a dig at Bajwa, Mann referred to his old interview ahead of elections. “Bajwa, in his interview, claimed that he had served under five Chief Ministers, and now wanted to serve Punjab…Now here he is seeking salary hike,” he quipped while asking the members to look at the people who are earning just Rs 5,000 a month but are still pushing their life.