Haryana spends Rs 29 crore on pensions to former MLAs

Tribune News Service

Pradeep Sharma

Chandigarh, April 11

Even as the chorus for single pension for former MLAs on Punjab pattern grows stronger, Haryana’s former legislators are costing the state exchequer Rs 29.51 crore per year.

Top beneficiaries

• Ajay Yadav, ex-minister Rs2.38L
• OP Chautala, ex-CM Rs2.22L
• Sampat Singh, ex-minister Rs2.14L
• Balbir Pal Shah, ex-minister Rs2.07L
• KL Panwar, ex-minister Rs1.99L

Former Congress Minister Ajay Yadav tops the list with Rs 2.38 lakh pension per month followed by former Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala who gets Rs 2.22 lakh as monthly pension. Former Minister Sampat Singh is close behind with a pension of Rs 2.14 lakh.

Information sought from Haryana Vidhan Sabha by Panipat-based RTI activist PP Kapoor showed that former Congress minister Balbir Pal Shah was getting a pension of Rs 2.07 lakh and BJP leader Krishan Lal Panwar was getting a pension of Rs 1.99 lakh.

Former ministers Ram Bilas Sharma, Karan Dalal and Mahendra Pratap and Bhagi Ram got a pension of Rs 1.91 lakh per month. Former Union Minister and BJP leader Birender Singh is paid an amount of Rs 1.76 lakh per month.

An amount of Rs 1.68 lakh each is paid to Phool Chand Mullana, Uday Bhan, Shakuntla Bhagwaria, Anand Singh Dangi and Randeep Surjewala. Among the leaders getting Rs 1.6 lakh as pension are HS Chatha and Ashok Arora and Rs 1.52 lakh pension is paid to Chander Mohan, Dharambir Gaba and Nirmal Singh. Nirmal Singh, who recently joined AAP, has announced his intention to get only one pension by renouncing three pensions.

Savitri Jindal, Kartar Singh Bhadana, Kuldeep Sharma and Renuka Bishnoi are drawing a pension of Rs 1 lakh each. Chautala’s son Ajay Chautala gets a pension of Rs 61,800 per month.

Prominent among family pensioners are Jasma Devi, widow of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, who gets Rs 99,619, and Vidya Surjewala, widow of Shamsher Singh Surjewala, who is drawing a pension of Rs 87,975.

In Haryana, 275 former MLAs and kin of 128 former legislators are drawing pension. While the amount of legislators’ pensions is pegged at Rs 26.4 crore per year, an amount of Rs 3.11 crore is spend on family pension per year.

Meanwhile, Kapoor has demanded that Haryana should follow in the footsteps of Punjab and allow only one pension to the former legislators.

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