₹2,000 basic salary in 2025? You might be earning more than a Kerala MLA

How much does a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) in India earn each month? What about travel allowances, telephone and electricity bills?

A new report provides the salary breakdown of MLAs in different states. While the elected leaders in states like Telangana and Maharashtra earn up to ₹2.5 lakh a month, those in Kerala earn just ₹70,000 a month.

As for fixed allowance, or what is known as basic salary in Cost to Company (CTC) parlance, a Maharashtra MLA gets ₹ 1.82 lakh while each legislator in Kerala gets a meagre ₹2,000 – reflecting a clear disparity in the pay that elected representatives get across the country.

In the corporate and banking sectors in India, the average basic salary can vary significantly based on experience, role, and location, but generally ranges from ₹10,000 to ₹70,000 lakhs per year for entry-level positions and can go up to ₹80,000 to ₹2 lakhs for experienced professionals.

Discussions on salaries are common in state assemblies or even Parliament. On March 25, Delhi Assembly formed a five-member committee to investigate the demands for revising the salaries of Members of the Legislative Assembly.

It was a rare occasion when both parties—the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)—were on the same page regarding the salary-hike demand for legislators raised during a discussion in the House.

The formation of the panel comes on the heels of the Centre notifying a 24 per cent hike in the salaries of Members of Parliament (MPs) with effect from April 1, 2023, based on the Cost Inflation Index. The two back-to-back developments have reignited the debate over lawmakers’ entitlements.

The MLAs receive salaries and allowances as determined in relevant laws passed in the state legislature. Some states such as Maharashtra have pegged the salary and dearness allowance for MLAs to that of the principal secretary to the state government.

Other than salaries, MLAs also receive several allowances, such as: (i) daily allowances for attending sessions of the Assembly and committee meetings, (ii) conveyance allowance for vehicles, and (iii) telephone and electricity allowances.

Which are the highest-paying states?

Here is a list of some states and the salary and other allowances that the elected MLAs get. The list was prepared by PRS Legislative Research, a non-profit research firm, on state legislatures and Parliament.

With ₹2.5 lakh salary a month, Telangana and Maharashtra MLAs are the highest paid. Telangana is not on the PRS list, though. With ₹70,000 salary a month, the MLAs in Kerala are the least paid, according to the PRS list.

Delhi: The salaries of the Delhi MLAs were last revised in February 2023, from then ₹54,000 to ₹90,000 per month. The salaries of the chief minister, cabinet ministers, speaker, deputy speaker, chief whip and leader of opposition were raised from ₹72,000 to ₹1.7 lakh.

Breaking the overall salary into components, an MLA of Delhi gets ₹30,000 as basic salary, ₹25,000 as constituency allowance each month, ₹15,000 as secretarial allowance, ₹10,000 each as conveyance allowance and telephone facilities. Apart from ₹90,000 per month, the MLAs also get ₹1,500 as a daily allowance in Delhi.

Gujarat: An MLA in Gujarat gets a basic salary of ₹78,800, a personal assistance allowance of ₹20,000, telephone charges of ₹7,000, postal and stationary expenses of ₹5,000 per month. Apart from this ₹1,10,800 per month overall salary, a Gujarat MLA also gets a daily allowance of ₹1,000 as Dearness Allowance at the same rate as paid to state government employees.

How much are MLAs in UP, Maharashtra paid?

Maharashtra: The basic salary of an MLA in Maharashtra is ₹1,82,200. The elected representative also gets a dearness allowance of ₹51,016, telephone allowance of ₹8,000, stationery and postage allowance of ₹10,000 and computer operator allowance of ₹10,000. This comes to around ₹2.52 lakh a month. The MLA also gets a daily allowance of ₹ 2,000 in Maharashtra.

Kerala: With ₹70,000 a month, Kerala MLAs are least paid, as per the PRS report. An MLA in Kerala is paid ₹2,000 fixed allowance, ₹25,000 constituency allowance, ₹20,000 as minimum monthly travel allowance, ₹11,000 as telephone allowance, ₹4,000 as information allowance and ₹8,000 as sumptuary allowance each month. The MLAs also get a daily allowance of ₹1,000 for inside state and ₹1,200 for outside state.

Uttar Pradesh: In Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government, an MLA gets a monthly salary of about ₹96,500. This includes a fixed salary of ₹ 25,000. Apart from this, an MLA in UP gets ₹50,000 as constituency allowance, ₹ 20,000 as secretarial allowance and ₹1,500 for work-related travel.

Apart from the monthly salary, an MLA in UP also gets ₹2,000 for attending assembly each day.

Punjab: An MLA is paid a fixed salary of ₹25,000 in Punjab. Apart from this, an MLA gets ₹25,000 as constituency, secretarial and postal facilities allowance, ₹15,000 as telephone allowance, ₹10,000 as office allowance, ₹10,000 as secretariat allowance, ₹3,000 as sumptuary allowance and ₹1,500 as halting allowance.