The Union government has proposed a steep hike in the salary of the president — from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh a month — to offset the yawning gap created in the wake of the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission.





Presently, the president’s salary is much below the Rs 2.5 lakh package the Cabinet secretary, the country’s topmost bureaucrat, takes home after the implementation of the latest pay commission’s recommendations.



The government is also contemplating revising the salary of the state governors to Rs 2.5 lakh from the existing Rs 1.10 lakh.



Even a secretary in the Union government now draws Rs 2.25 lakh a month, which is higher than that of a governor’s salary.



To avoid the embarrassing anomalies, the government has decided to revise the salaries of the president and other august office holders, government sources said.



The Union home ministry has prepared a draft to amend the President’s (Emoluments and Pension) Act for revising the salary and allowances drawn by the head of the nation and it will be sent shortly to the Union Cabinet for its approval, said the sources.



The bill is likely to tabled in the coming session of Parliament.



The vice-president does not draw salary in that capacity. Instead, he or she gets it by virtue of being the ex-officio chairperson of the Rajya Sabha (council of states), which currently is

Rs 1,25,000 per month.



The vice-president’s salary is more or less on a par with a Member of Parliament’s pay. To hike the vice-president’s salary, the government has to amend the Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament Act. Though a panel headed by parliamentarian Yogi Adityanath had recommended a steep hike in the salaries of MPs, the government is yet to take a call on this.



“While deciding on hike in the MPs’ salary, the government may take a call on increasing the vice-president’s salary also,” sources said.



The salaries of the President, vice-president and governors were last hiked in 2008 when Parliament had approved a three-fold increase. Till 2008, the President’s salary was Rs 50,000, the vice-president’s Rs 40,000 and the governor’s Rs 36,000.



