NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, SEPT 21
The Gujarat Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a Bill proposing a 30 percent cut in the basic salaries of MLAs, ministers, and other dignitaries for a year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pay cut, which came into effect from April 1 through an ordinance, would save Rs 6.27 crore, an amount “which will be utilised to fight coronavirus” in the BJP-ruled state, said the Bill document.
Apart from MLAs and ministers, the 30 percent pay cut applies to the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and to salaries drawn by the Leader of Opposition, said legislative and parliamentary affairs minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama while tabling the Bill for discussion.
The BJP government had taken the decision to implement a 30 percent salary for a period of one year in April through an ordinance as the Assembly was not in session then.
The Bill, passed unanimously in the Assembly on the first day of its monsoon session, replaced the ordinance.