Salary, allowances released as per existing rules
*Enhancement unlikely due to PRIs, ULBs
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 28: While salaries in favour of the MLAs have been released as per existing guidelines, the Government is likely to keep a budgetary provision of Rs 285 crore for Constituency Development Fund (CDF) of the legislators to be released from the next financial year beginning April 1.
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For remaining three months of current financial year of 2024-25, the MLAs are unlikely to get the CDF as there was no budgetary provision in the absence of Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir when the annual budget of the UT was approved by the Parliament.
Officials told the Excelsior that an exercise carried out by the Government leaves virtually no scope for enhancement in CDF of the legislators which was Rs 3 crore per annum in 2018 when the House was dissolved as there were no Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) as well as Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) then.
“Now, though the elected bodies are not in place, the Government not only proposed to hold elections to them but is also releasing the part of the grants in their favour. Further, the District Development Councils (DDCs) have one full year of tenure left and they are also getting budget for developmental works,” the officials said, adding adequate grants for three-tier PRI system and ULBs leave no scope for enhancement of the CDF for MLAs but in no case it is going to be reduced from Rs three crore per annum.
However, they said for 90-member Assembly which could go up to 95 when five MLAs are nominated, a budgetary provision of Rs 285 crore has to be kept and this is likely to be done in the next financial year’s budget for 2025-26 which would be introduced in J&K’s Legislature in February-March next year.
The Government will have to take a call on whether the CDF will be effective from April 1, 2025 or middle of October this year when the MLAs took the oath.
J&K has 90-member Assembly. Presently, there are two vacancies which are likely to be filled (Nagrota and Budgam) before April next. The vacancies arose after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah quit Budgam seat while retaining Ganderbal and sudden demise of BJP Nagrota MLA Devender Singh Rana.
There is a provision for nomination of five MLAs in the Assembly with voting rights including two women, two Kashmiri migrants, one of them a woman, and one Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) refugee. Though the nominated MLAs have no constituency, they are given a choice to identify their segment for CDF expenditure.
“Keeping in view the entire exercise, the MLAs are expected to get the CDF from next financial year,” the officials said, adding conditions for expenditure of the funds will also be released along with the order for CDF.
However, salaries of the MLAs have been released as per the existing guidelines i.e. what the legislators were getting in 2018. The Assembly can pass a bill for hike in salary and allowances of the legislators.
The MLAs got Rs 1.60 lakh per month including Rs 80,000 each for salary and allowances which were in place when the House was dissolved in November 2018.
In the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, the Upper House (Legislative Council) was also in place and its Members (the MLCs) too had CDF equal to that of MLAs. They had to pick their constituency for use of CDF. However, the Legislative Council was dissolved after abrogation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir and its conversion from the State to the Union Territory.
There were 36 Members in the Legislative Council including the chairperson and vice chairperson.
The Government, as per the sources is seized of the issue of the CDF of MLAs.
Along with CDF, it will also release the guidelines including ceiling on expenditure of CDF in particular sectors, they said.
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