Punjab MLAs to pay income tax out of their own pockets

Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Neil Garg has also tweeted in this regard. He wrote that the decisions that “emptied the treasury would be rolled back.

Chandigarh: In a significant development, members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly are likely to pay income tax from their own pockets instead of from the state exchequer, sources have said. As per the sources, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann may make an official announcement in this regard on Monday. Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Neil Garg has also tweeted in this regard. He wrote that the decisions that “emptied the treasury would be rolled back."

"MLAs would pay their own income tax. This would be another good decision of the Bhagwant Mann government”, said a source from the party. Earlier, the AAP has campaigned to make the MLAs pay the income tax from their own pockets rather than emptying the government exchequer.

Earlier, during the tenure of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, the government was paying an income tax of 93 MLAs out of 117. The government had paid Rs 3.5 crore in income tax in four years. Significantly, Aam Aadmi Party MLAs were also included in the list.

The MLAs whose income tax was being paid from the exchequer included the names of five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and former Punjab Congress President Navjot Sidhu. Besides, 15 AAP MLAs were also among the beneficiaries. Among them are Aman Arora, Kulwant Singh Pandori, Baljinder Kaur, Buddharam, Kultar Sadhwan, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hair, Sarvajit Kaur Manunke, and Jackson Singh who have become MLAs for the second time.

Of these, Kultar Sadhwan has now become the Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha and Gurmeet the Deputy Education Minister. However, some leaders including Capt Amarinder Singh have been paying income tax on their own. They include the then Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and current Finance Minister Harpal Cheema.

Apart from this 24 MLAs including Manpreet Singh Badal, Tripat Rajinder Bajwa, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Sukh Sarkaria, Balvir Singh Sidhu, Brahm Mahindra, Gurpreet Kangar, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, MLA Simarjit Bains, and Balwinder Singh Bains, Kuljit Nagra also pay their income tax from their own pockets.

Earlier, the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government announced that MLAs would now get only a one-time pension. The Chief Minister said that the occasional payment of pensions would reduce the additional burden on the exchequer. "This money will be used for the welfare of the people," he had said. The latest move to delink the MLA's income tax from the state exchequer is expected to further boost the government expenditure on the welfare schemes.