Bhubaneswar, March 31 The Odisha government withdrew four bills on Tuesday night relating to a threefold increase in the salaries, allowances, and pensions of MLAs, ministers, the chief minister, and others, before Speaker Surama Padhy adjourned the budget session sine die, five days ahead of schedule.
After midnight, the House also passed the Odisha State Public Universities (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Bill, 2026, following a detailed four-hour debate in which members from both the treasury and opposition benches participated.
Although BJD MLAs Ranendra Pratap Swain, Arun Kumar Sahu, Dhruba Charan Sahu, and Ganeshwar Behera, along with Congress member Ashok Das, demanded that the bill be sent to the select committee, Higher Education Minister Suryavansi Suraj argued for its immediate implementation.
The session, which began on February 17, was scheduled to continue until April 8. However, the House approved a proposal by government whip Saroj Kumar Pradhan to adjourn the session sine die, as there was not much business pending.
During the evening session, the House passed the Odisha Appropriation Bill 2026, allowing the state government to spend Rs 3.10 lakh crore from its consolidated fund during the financial year 2026-27.
Before the sine die adjournment of the session, Odisha Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling moved notices to withdraw the four amendment bills, which proposed revising the salaries, allowances, and pensions of legislators, the speaker, the deputy speaker, and ministers.
The bills were withdrawn with the consent of the House, which had been unanimously passed in the House on the last day of the winter session on December 9, 2025.
The state government decided to withdraw the bills due to widespread public outrage. Although the bills were passed in the House, they were awaiting the governor's assent for a threefold increase in the salaries, allowances, and pensions of MLAs, ministers, the chief minister, the speaker, and the deputy speaker.
Legislature parties from both the ruling and opposition parties had requested Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to review the bills, considering public opposition to the threefold hike in the salaries and pensions of lawmakers.
The bills, which received the approval of the House last year, made provisions to raise the monthly salary and allowance of MLAs more than threefold, from Rs 1.11 lakh to Rs 3.45 lakh per month, one of the highest in the country.