When Amarinder Singh took over as chief minister of Punjab, he held forth on the need to curtail government expenditure. But his regime has outdone its predecessor in profligacy. Despite a revenue deficit of Rs 3,800 crore, he announced a bonanza to ministers and MLAs: a four-fold hike in salaries, perks and loans, adding a Rs 8.13-crore burden on the state's exchequer. His generosity makes Punjab's MLAs among the highest paid in the country. The monthly entitlements of ministers include a salary of Rs 15,000 (up from Rs 4,000), sumptuary allowance of Rs 5,000 (up from Rs 2,500), official car or Rs 10,000 in lieu, constituency allowance of Rs 8,000 (up from Rs 5,000), a new miscellaneous allowance of Rs 10,000 and reimbursement of actual medical expenses in place of the Rs 250 allowance.

LUXURIOUS TASTES: Amarinder's sops will cost an extra Rs 8.13 crore

For MLAs, the monthly salary of Rs 4,000 is four times higher. They also get Rs 5,000 as office expenses, Rs 1,000 as electricity/water charges, an increased daily allowance and Rs 10,000 as telephone charges (up from Rs 4,000). They can rent a private house at Rs 30,000 per month-a benefit that was not available earlier, and avail a house loan of Rs 10 lakh, up from Rs 6 lakh. Their annual entitlement for petrol/diesel/air fare has been raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh. "It's an open loot of the state treasury," fumed senior state bjp leader Balramji Dass Tandon. But nobody's listening, least of all his own party colleagues.