MNAs & senators call for salary hike to Rs500,000

ISLAMABAD: A proposal to align the salaries and allowances of legislators with those of the federal secretary has been submitted to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

According to sources, the Finance Committee of the National Assembly approved the proposal, after which Speaker Ayaz Sadiq will send the recommendations to the prime minister. The proposal; The monthly salary and allowances of MNAs and senators are proposed to be fixed at Rs519,000.

Currently, after the cuts, the monthly salary and allowances of a federal secretary are Rs519,000.

Parliamentary insiders revealed that earlier, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s demands to increase the monthly salaries to Rs1 million were rejected. However, this recent move has reportedly been supported by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other parties on the need for parity between legislators and top federal officials.

Notably, 67 lawmakers from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have also submitted written petitions advocating for a salary hike. The Finance Committee has proposed an extension of federal secretary-level perks and benefits to parliamentarians.

The current monthly salary and perks of lawmakers are equivalent to Rs218,000.

Earlier in December, the Punjab Assembly had passed a bill, in which the salaries of public representatives were significantly amended after a majority vote in the assembly session. The bill, presented by Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, had substantially increased the salaries of members of the Punjab Assembly (MPA) and other provincial officials.

Under the newly passed bill, the salary of an MPA was increased from Rs76,000 to Rs400,000. The salary of provincial ministers was increased from Rs180,000 to Rs960,000, while the salary of the Punjab Assembly Speaker was increased from Rs125,000 to Rs950,000.

The salary of the Deputy Speaker was proposed to be increased from Rs 120,000 to Rs 775,000 and that of parliamentary secretaries from Rs 83,000 to Rs 451,000. Furthermore, the salaries of special assistants and advisors were to be increased from Rs 100,000 to Rs 665,000.