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The Haryana government has to pay ₹29.51 crore every year on monthly and family pension of 275 former lawmakers and their family members in state.
As per information provided by the officer-cum-superintendent of Haryana Vidhan Sabha in a reply of an application filed by a Panipat-based activist PP Kapoor under the Right to Information Act, 2005, there are many politicians in state who are withdrawing pensions for five to seven terms.
As per the list, Congress’ senior leader and seven-times MLA Capt Ajay Singh Yadav is drawing the highest pension of ₹2.38 lakh per month, followed by former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala’s ₹2.22 lakh. Even former chief minister late Bhajan Lal’s widow, Jasma Devi is getting a family pension of ₹99,619 besides ₹61,800 she is getting for being an ex-MLA.
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala is getting monthly pension of ₹1.68 lakh, his mother Vidya Surejewala, who is wife of former Congress lawmaker late Shamsher Surjewala, is also getting a family pension of ₹87,975, the RTI response stated.
Savitri Jindal, who is among the top richest women in country and mother of Indian billionaire industrialist and Congress leader Naveen Jindal, is getting monthly pension of ₹90,600 per month from the state assembly, revealed the information.
“The government is spending ₹26.40 crore on pension of 147 former MLAs and ₹3.11 crore on family pension of 128 lawmakers, while the current monthly pension for one term is fixed at ₹51,800 besides monthly allowance of ₹10,000,” the response revealed.
The state government has given house building car advance of ₹32 crore to 68 former and sitting lawmakers between 2010 and 2021 and an advance of ₹20.83 crore are due up to January this year, it stated.
This also included pending recovery of ₹9.96 crore given to the lawmakers from 2004 to 2021. Sitting BJP MP from Kurukshetra Nayab Saini had taken house building advance of ₹60 lakh when he was an MLA in 2018, and ₹47.20 lakh are due till January this year, it further stated.
Having maximum number of legislators, the Chautala clan is the biggest beneficiary of the pensions. Besides, ₹2.22 lakh pension to OP Chatuala, his elder son Ajay Chautala is also getting a pension of ₹61,800.
But in future, Chautala’s younger son Abhay Chautala, Ajay Chautala’s wife Naina Chautala and his grandson and deputy CM Dushyant Chautala will be new beneficiaries in the list of the pension scheme.
Similarly, the family of former CM late Bhajan Lal is also getting a total of ₹4.14 lakh every month, besides Lal’s younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is getting benefits of sitting MLA and pension benefits of being a former parliamentarian.
Haryana home minister Anil Vij had taken a house building advance of ₹36.50 lakh in 2013 and ₹9.64 lakh is still due and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda had taken a car advance of ₹20 lakh in 2016 of which, ₹7.60 lakh is due.
Spending of huge amount on pension benefits to elected politicians and their families has instigated debates as recently, the newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party-led government in Punjab has implemented ‘one-term, one-pension’ for the legislators.
“The state government had stopped distribution of mustard oil under the public distribution scheme to 11.4 lakh poor families as prices of mustard oil had gone up, but there is no deduction in the pension being paid to the lawmakers,” said Kapoor, demanding implementation of ‘one-term, one-pension’ in Haryana as well.
Kamal Anand, a Punjab-based a senior advocate and activist, said, “Most politicians call politics a service to people but why they take such huge amount and benefits for this service. No doubt the Punjab government’s move of ‘one-term, one-pension’ is being praised and now the lawmakers of other states should also set an example by taking the decision to shun monthly pension.”
The politicians, when contacted for comments, refused to react and termed the exposure “agenda of a political party which recently took the decision to give just one pension to all lawmakers, doing away with the practice of drawing benefit for each term served by them”.
“Everybody is praising the Punjab government’s move but we should also ask them about the increase in salaries and allowances being paid to legislators of Delhi,” said a Congress leader from Haryana.
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