DMK working president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin informed the Assembly on Friday that his party MLAs would not accept the hike in salary announced by the government for legislators till the transport workers’ dispute was resolved. Mr. Stalin questioned whether it was necessary and appropriate on the part of the government to pass the Bill increasing the salary of MLAs.
DMK whip R. Sakkarapani handed over to Speaker P. Dhanapal a letter explaining the party’s position and endorsed by all its MLAs in the presence of the Chief Minister.
“When the State government is facing a severe financial crunch, it should think it over as to whether it is necessary to increase the salary by about 100%, that too for representatives of the people. When the Governor’s address repeatedly points to financial crunch, should the salary be hiked,” Mr. Stalin asked.
Congress Legislative Party leader K. Ramasamy concurred and pointed out that there was shortage of funds for Ockhi cyclone relief.
Intervening, Leader of the House O. Panneerselvam defended the government’s decision contending that it followed several representations from MLAs and former MLAs and went on to point out that the salary for legislators was hiked even during the DMK regime. He said Tamil Nadu stood 10th compared to other States in terms of MLAs’ salary. He claimed that the DMK’s stand was only to gain political mileage.
However, Mr. Stalin declared that DMK members would not go back on their decision against accepting the salary hike.
