Old Tricks, New Bones

There was mayhem in the Kerala Assembly after police action on agitating students in Kozhikode.

There was mayhem in the Kerala Assembly after police action on agitating students in Kozhikode. Two CPM legislators were also suspended. What went relatively unnoticed in the ensuing commotion was the bipartisan support for the recommendations of the R Rajendrababu commission, submitted to the speaker of the Assembly, and which got bipartisan support from legislators. The commission recommends that salaries of ministers, the speaker, the deputy speaker, the leader of the opposition and the government chief whip be increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 a month. It also proposed that their allowances be doubled. The fixed allowance is expected to be increased from Rs 300 to Rs 8,500. The overall increase in allowances will be from Rs 20,300 to Rs 40,250 a month. As it turned out, these increases, meant to match the current rate of inflation, were tabled in the Assembly when the opposition had staged a sit-in at the well of the house. Unsurprisingly, the opposition and treasury benches were united in agreement with the commission’s report.

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Shahina KK