By IANS,
New Delhi : Lady luck seems to be smiling on Indian President Pratibha Patil as she has got two salary hikes in a span of 13 months since she got elected to the highest office of the land in July last year.
Chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) here Thursday decided to enhance the monthly emoluments of the president, the vice-president and the governors of states respectively to Rs.150,000, Rs.125,000, and Rs.110,000.
January 10 this year the CCEA doubled the president’s salary to Rs.100,000 from Rs.50,000 per month, while that of the vice-president was increased to Rs.85,000 from Rs.40,000.
The salary of governors also was revised from Rs.36,000 a month to Rs.75,000, and has now been increased again to Rs.110,000 per month.
In India’s federal structure, the president enjoys the status of First Citizen, and also happens to be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
The vice-president, currently Mohammad Hamid Ansari, also happens to be the presiding officer of the Rajaya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament.
The governors of states are the constitutional representatives of the president at the state-level.