The Great Taxpayer Rip-Off

Sheikh ran Kashmir for Rs 3 a day; Omar to charge Rs 2300

PM salaries

Pandit R C Kak in 1945 Rs 4000
Sheikh Abdullah in 1948 Rs 1000
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in 2010 Rs 70,000
Total Cabinet salary in 1948 Rs 12,000
Dewan Th B S Pathania Rs 2500
Dy Rev Min Khawaja Ali Shah Rs 700
Total cabinet salary in 1945 Rs 12500
Dy PM and Home Min Bakhshi Ghulam Muhammad in 1948 Rs 1000
Home Minister Wazir Ganga in 1945 Rs 1600


Rich Durbar

Abdul Mohamin

Srinagar: Under the National Conference-led coalition government, ministers and legislator would carry heavier purses with the record hike in their pay and perks. Many old guards in NC see this decision in contrast with Sheikh Abdullah’s regime in 1948 when Sheikh had chosen to draw lesser salary than he was supposed to.

During his first tenure as Prime Minister of J&K on March 5, 1948 – Sheikh announced that he would be content with just 25 percent of what his predecessors used to draw.

Compared to mere Rs 1000 that Sheikh took as salary for the post of Prime Minster in 1948, his grandson and incumbent Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would receive Rs 70,000 in the new pay package, proposed to be effective from September 2009 as per sources.

The new hike will not only benefit the CM, it is expected to add almost Rs 20,000 to the wallet of every MLA and MLC and Rs 25,000 to the ministers. The State legislators (as also the ministers) are currently drawing Rs 40,300 per month.

Records show Sheikh's salary was Rs 3000 less than what his predecessor Pandit Ram Chander Kak drew during his tenure as PM in 1945, when Maharaja Hari Singh ruled the State.

The records also clearly indicate that Cabinet Ministers had uniformity in salary structure, with few exceptions like Deputy Revenue Minister Khwaja Ali Shah drawing the lowest salary of Rs 700, while the maximum pay of Rs 2500 was drawn by Th. Baldev Singh Pathania as Dewan.

The total salary drawn by the whole Cabinet of 1948 was Rs 12,000 and distributed among 12 persons. Compared to this, a similar amount (Rs 12,500) was drawn by the 1945 Council comprising only five people, including Premier Kak.

The 1948 Cabinet Ministers too had lower salaries than what ministers in similar capacities carried home during the Maharaja rule. For instance, Deputy Prime Minister Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad, who also held the Home portfolio at that time, drew Rs 1000 as salary - Rs 600 less than what Home Minister Wazir Ganga Ram took during the Maharaja rule.

The new hike is expected to create added burden of Rs 36 crore annually on the State exchequer and place the State Ministers and legislators as top salary drawees, even surpassing the Union ministers whose salaries are governed by the Salaries and Allowances of Minister Act, 1952.

In fact, a proposal to ensure uniformity in Union Ministers' salaries is being worked out in tune with what the top Secretaries of GoI draw - Rs 80,000 per month.

The pay parity entails bringing the salaries of Union ministers (including allowances and perks) higher than the Secretaries.