Kerala Cabinet approves salary and allowance increases for ministers and MLAs

The Kerala Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister V D Satheesan, has approved a Bill to increase the salaries and allowances for ministers and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). The proposal follows discussions with various political leaders and aims to address rising costs. Current monthly compensation for MLAs is approximately Rs 70,000, with proposals to raise it to Rs 1 lakh, while ministers' monthly pay may increase from Rs 1 lakh to approximately Rs 1.25 lakh.

In addition to legislative pay adjustments, the Cabinet approved several social and administrative measures. These include increased housing assistance for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and fisherfolk families. The government also decided to revise the male-to-female recruitment ratio for police constable posts from 9:1 to 7:3 to improve women's representation in the force.

Other decisions include providing government jobs to the daughter of a murder victim in the Nenmara case and to Vidarsa K Vinod, a silver medalist shooter from the 2026 Asian Games. The Cabinet also approved the inclusion of the Pattariya and Saliya communities in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list.