Lucknow, January 7: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Uttar Pradesh Harish Dwivedi on Sunday made a controversial statement when he pitched for a higher salary for lawmakers. Speaking at an event, Harish Dwivedi said a lawmaker gets less salary than of a primary school teacher. If people want an MP to be incorruptible, the government needs to raise his/her salary, Dwivedi said.

"An MP will have to hire a dozen of people if he needs to work efficiently in his constituency. But his monthly salary is less than of a primary school teacher. If you want that a lawmaker never steals money, the government needs to hike his salary," the BJP MP from Basti parliamentary seat. "A lawmaker has to collect fund from other means to carry out works in his constituency," he added. Delhi Assembly Forms Panel to Raise Issue of MLA Salary Hike with Centre.

Dwivedi said he will raise the matter with the BJP leadership. He went on to praise Delhi chief minister and national convenor of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal for hiking salary of MLAs in the national capital. In December 2015, the Assembly had passed a Bill seeking 400 per cent hike in the basic salary of MLAs and ministers besides a hefty increase in perks and allowances.

As per a provision of the Bill cleared by the Delhi Assembly in 2015, the basic salary of legislators will increase from the current Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 and their overall monthly payment will be around Rs 2.1 lakh as against Rs 88,000 at present. The basic salary of the ministers, the speaker and the deputy speaker, the chief whip and the leader of the opposition will be around Rs 80,000 and their total emoluments nearly Rs 3.67 lakh as against Rs 1.2 lakh now.

After the Assembly passed the Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Government of NCT of Delhi (Salaries, Allowances, Pension) Amendment Bill 2015, it was sent to the Centre for approval.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 07, 2019 11:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).