by Maleeha Sofi
SRINAGAR: A House Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly has recommended a significant hike in the salaries, allowances, and pensionary benefits of sitting and former legislators, marking the first such revision in eight years. The report, presented in the House on October 27, was drafted under the chairmanship of the BJP’s Surjit Singh Slathia and supported by members from across political parties. The committee has proposed that the revised package take effect retrospectively from November 1, 2024.
If approved, the 90 lawmakers of the Union territory Assembly will end up doubling up their packages and taking home no less than a million home in arrears.
The panel was constituted in March 2025, following persistent demands from lawmakers who argued that the existing structure had become inadequate in the face of rising costs and constituency-related expenses. The government, which initially showed reluctance, later agreed to the formation of the committee after assurances from the Chief Minister during the budget session earlier this year.
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Under the new proposal, the basic monthly salary of a legislator will rise from Rs 60,000 to Rs 80,000. Besides, several key allowances have been revised sharply. The Constituency Conveyance Allowance has been set at Rs 1,10,000 per month, representing an increase of more than eighty per cent. The Telephone Allowance has been proposed at Rs 30,000, the Medical Allowance at Rs 20,000, and both the Sumptuary Allowance and Secretariat Assistance Allowance at Rs 30,000 each per month.
The annual Travelling Allowance entitlement has also been doubled from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, acknowledging what the committee described as “the challenging geographical and climatic conditions” of Jammu and Kashmir and the extensive travel legislators must undertake to reach their constituencies.
The report goes beyond current legislators to also propose a comprehensive revision of pensionary benefits for former members. The monthly pension has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000, and the family pension ceiling has been increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000. The panel has introduced a new Conveyance Allowance of Rs 10,000 per month for former legislators and recommended the inclusion of widowed and divorced daughters in the definition of family members eligible for pensionary benefits.
In financial support measures, the House Building Advance limit has been proposed to increase dramatically from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 75 lakh, while the Motor Car Advance ceiling has been raised from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. These revisions, the committee said, reflect the need to align benefits with current market realities and inflation. These loans have usually remained interest-free.
Personal Assistants of legislators will also benefit from the revision, with their monthly honorarium set to rise from Rs 12,000 to Rs 25,000, recognising their “uninterrupted secretarial assistance” to the MLAs.
The Slathia-led panel, which included senior legislators such as Ali Mohammad Sagar, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Sajad Gani Lone, Hasnain Masoodi, Mir Mohammad Fayaz, Pirzada Farooq Ahmad Shah, Arjun Singh Raju, and Muzaffar Iqbal Khan, observed that many legislators had given up their professional occupations to serve in public life and were finding it difficult to sustain themselves on the present pay structure. The committee maintained that “public representatives without adequate means cannot effectively discharge their duties,” especially in constituencies where social obligations and local engagements entail daily expenditure.
In its detailed note, the committee also underlined that legislators operate under circumstances very different from government employees, who have incremental salary structures and regular allowances. The report argued that the lump-sum salary model for MLAs needed periodic review to ensure parity with their growing responsibilities.
The committee recommended that the government introduce suitable amendments to existing laws and rules to proportionately revise the pay and allowances of the Chief Minister, Speaker, Ministers, Ministers of State, and the Leader of Opposition. Among the Acts listed for revision are the Jammu and Kashmir Ministers and Ministers of State Salaries Act, 1956, the Leader of Opposition in the State Legislature Act, 1985, and associated rules governing travel, housing loans, and motor car advances.
The report further emphasised that the revision process should become periodic and automatic, rather than dependent on the constitution of special committees each time.
If adopted in full, the proposals would translate into a considerable rise in monthly earnings for each legislator, apart from substantial arrears accruing from the proposed retrospective implementation. The government has said that the recommendations will be examined by the Finance Department before being placed before the House for formal approval.
The committee’s report concludes by asserting that adequate remuneration is “vital for attracting individuals of calibre and integrity into public life,” adding that a financially secure legislator is better equipped to “serve the public with transparency, efficiency, and dedication.”
In anticipation of the House Committee report on October 27, 2025, Omar Abdullah’s council of ministers had already discussed, and probably approved, the increase in the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) of the lawmakers from Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore.
Interestingly, however, the Slathia panel’s report is expected to be first assessed by the finance department before it is sent for the approval of the Raj Bhawan. In Jammu and Kashmir, the erstwhile state that was reduced to a Union territory in 2019, the Lieutenant Governor has more powers; all money bills are supposed to be approved by him.
