Gangtok: The Sikkim government on Friday tabled a bill in the Assembly seeking to nearly triple the salaries of the chief minister, ministers, Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.

The bill also seeks to more than double their allowances. There is no mention of any revision in salaries and allowances of MLAs in the legislation.

Chief minister Pawan Chamling is due to receive the biggest hike, with his salary going up from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.6 lakh and his perks to Rs 1.10 lakh from Rs 45,000 once the bill is passed.

The Bengal chief minister's monthly salary and allowances together is around Rs 89,000 - which is one third of the total amount Chamling will receive.

The salary and allowance of the Sikkim Speaker will get the next biggest jump - from Rs 45,000 to Rs 1.4 lakh and from Rs 40,000 to Rs 90,000, respectively. The Bengal Speaker's monthly salary and allowances is around Rs 89,000.

"The existing salaries of the ministers, Speaker, Deputy Speaker and members of the Assembly were fixed in 2012. A need has been felt to revise the salaries in view of inflation," parliamentary affairs minister R. B. Subba said, tabling the bill.

The bill's clearance is a mere formality given the absolute majority of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front in the Assembly. The increase will come into effect retrospectively from April 1, 2018.

A Sikkim cabinet minister's salary will go up from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.2 lakh and allowance from Rs 35,000 to Rs 80,000. The figure in Bengal is around Rs 84,000 for cabinet ministers.

Sikkim has proposed a hike from Rs 35,000 to Rs 1 lakh for ministers of state and Rs Rs 33,000 to Rs 95,000 for deputy ministers of state. Bengal junior ministers get around Rs 83,900.

The salaries of the Sikkim Deputy Speaker will rise from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.2 lakh. In Bengal, the Deputy Speaker's salary and allowances come to around Rs 83,900.

Asked why the Sikkim bill was silent on the salaries of the MLAs, R. K. Purkayastha, principal secretary of the parliamentary affairs department, said he was "not in a position to comment".

In Bengal, MLAs monthly salary is around Rs 17,500. Besides, they get the daily allowances of Rs 2,000 when the Assembly is in session and when they attend meetings of House committees. Besides the salary and allowances, the Sikkim lawmakers are also expected get a significant raise in other perks.

A separate bill was tabled in the Sikkim Assembly to increase the pension of former legislators by 50 per cent.