Shimla, March 28— The Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha passed three bills on Friday, approving a 24% hike in the salaries and allowances of the Chief Minister, ministers, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and MLAs. The revised pay scale, linked to the price index, will now increase automatically every five years.
The salary revision, the first since 2016, is expected to cost the state exchequer around Rs 24 crore annually. Of this, Rs 20–22 crore will be spent on the increased pay and pensions of current and former MLAs, Rs 35 lakh on the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and Rs 2 crore on ministers’ salaries and allowances. The pension of former legislators has also been raised.
The bills passed include the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker’s and Deputy Speaker’s Salaries (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the HP Legislative Assembly (Allowances and Pension of Members) Amendment Bill, 2025, and the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Himachal Pradesh) Amendment Bill, 2025.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu defended the hike, saying it promotes “honesty and clean politics” by ensuring legislators are fairly compensated. “The salary increase aligns with pay hikes in other sections of society,” he said.
Sukhu also announced the removal of perks for MLAs, including the Rs 20,000 monthly telephone allowance and subsidies on water and electricity.
The revised salaries include a hike for the Chief Minister from Rs 95,000 to Rs 1.15 lakh, for the Speaker from Rs 80,000 to Rs 95,000, and for the Deputy Speaker from Rs 75,000 to Rs 92,000. Cabinet ministers’ pay will rise from Rs 80,000 to Rs 95,000, state ministers from Rs 78,000 to Rs 93,000, deputy ministers from Rs 75,000 to Rs 80,000, and MLAs from Rs 55,000 to Rs 70,000. Sumptuary allowances have also been raised across all categories.
Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, along with ministers Chander Kumar, Harshwardhan Chauhan, and Jagat Singh Negi, and MLAs Hans Raj, Sanjay Rattan, Rakesh Kalia, ID Gandhi, and Vinod Kumar, backed the bills. They stated that legislators deserved a salary increase in line with other sections of society.
Both Congress and BJP legislators welcomed the bills’ passage by thumping their tables.
