Naveen Patnaik forgoes salary and allowance hiked for leader of Opposition

With more than two-fold hike in the monthly salary of the chief minister, ministers, and MLAs, and a threefold hike in the pension of legislators eliciting sharp reaction across Odisha, former chief minister Naveen Patnaik has set a precedent of sort by announcing that he will forgo the salary and allowances hiked as the leader of the Opposition which the Odisha Legislative Assembly has recently passed.

In an official letter to Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, the LoP requested him to utilize the same for the welfare of the poor people of our State.

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Incidentally, the legislation recently passed by the Assembly catapults the state’s pay and pension structure for elected representatives among the highest in the country.

“I have been blessed by the love, affection and support of the people of Odisha for the past more than 25 years. I am highly indebted to the people of Odisha and their love towards me and my late father Biju Patnaik”, Patnaik, who ruled the state from 2000 to 2024, stated in an official letter addressed to Chief Minister Majhi.

“You may kindly be aware that in the year 2015 our family decided to donate its ancestral property ‘Anand Bhawan’ in Cuttack to be put for use by the people of Odisha. In the same spirit, I would like to forgo the salary and allowances hiked for leader of the Opposition which the Odisha Legislative Assembly has recently passed. I would like to request you to utilize the same for the welfare of poor people of our State,” the state’s longest-serving CM stated in the letter.

As per the legislation, an MLA in Odisha will draw Rs 3.45 lakh per month against the Rs 1.10 lakh in 2007. Basic pay has been hiked from Rs 35,000 to Rs 90,000, constituency and secretarial allowance from Rs 20,000 to Rs 75,000, conveyance allowance from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000, fixed allowance from Rs 10,000 to ₹50,000, books, journals, and periodicals allowance from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000, electricity allowance from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000, and telephone allowance from ₹8,000 to ₹15,000. Former MLAs will receive a monthly pension of over Rs 1.20 lakh.