By IANS
Ranchi : The Jharkhand assembly may have only 82 legislators, as compared to Bihar’s 243, but it employs more people to oversee its management and spends more money.
The Jharkhand government has been in the news for providing expensive vehicles to its ministers and spending millions of rupees for renovation of their bungalows.
The Jharkhand assembly has 757 employees and their annual salary bill is Rs.170 million.
In comparison, the Bihar assembly has 630 employees, and an annual salary bill of Rs.70.25 million.
Jharkhand was carved out from Bihar in November 2000.
Another state, Uttarakhand, which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in the same year as Jharkhand, has 70 legislators and spends Rs.40.25 million every year for the salary of its 190 employees.
Each legislator in Jharkhand has been given a laptop computer and Rs.20.5 million for the Local Area Development fund, more than the Rs.20 million that a member of parliament gets.
Jharkhand legislators have almost tripled their salaries in the last seven years, from Rs.13,000 to Rs.36,000 per month. Other perks have also increased.
Reacting to the issue, Jharkhand Speaker Aalamgir Aalam said: “I have not appointed anyone. I have just regularised the staff members who were working on temporary basis. They were appointed before I took over as speaker.”
Aalam has set up a committee of legislators to look into the expenses.