The Tamil Nadu government has recently increased the rent paid to Ministers if they occupied private houses that are either owned by them or taken on a lease. The rent paid to them, under both these categories, has been increased from ₹70,000 a month to ₹1.5 lakh a month.
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The revision would have a retrospective effect from March this year, and would apply for the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Government Whip too, should they occupy and live in a private house that they own or have taken on a lease.
Recent amendments
Most of the members of the Council of Ministers are staying in houses provided to them by the State government’s Public Works Department (PWD). Recently, the Public Department has made amendments to the Tamil Nadu Ministers and Presiding Officers of Legislature (Furnishing of Private Houses and Provision of Amenities) Rules, 1977, and the Tamil Nadu Ministers and Presiding Officers of Legislature (Furnishing and Maintenance of Private Houses taken on Lease and Provision of Amenities) Rules, 1981.
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Previous revision
The revision in rent has been made after a gap of eight years. The previous revision was in March 2016, when the then State government increased the rent payable to the Ministers, among others, for such categories from ₹20,000 a month to ₹70,000 a month.
According to the Tamil Nadu Payment of Salaries Act, 1951, the Council of Ministers, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition, among others, are paid a salary and a house rent allowance (HRA).
The HRA would not be paid to them if they occupied a house provided by the State government. According to the rules framed in 1977 and 1981, a rent would be paid if they stayed at a private house either owned by them or taken on a lease respectively. The rent to be paid is to be fixed by the PWD.
For the past three years, the State government has provided an “official residence” for the Chief Secretary on a lane, off the P.S. Kumarasamy Raja Salai, among the residences of Ministers and judges of the Madras High Court in Chennai. Named ‘Adyar’, the official bungalow of the Chief Secretary is adjacent to the Anna Administrative Staff College and the All India Civil Services Coaching Centre.