Published: Saturday, May 8, 2010, 2:09 IST
By Harish Gupta | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_pranab-mukherjee-puts-off-pay-and-perks-hike-to-mps_1380392
Parliamentarians will have to wait for some more time for a pay-and-perks hike.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee torpedoed on Friday, the last day of the budget session, their effort to get the MPs Salaries and Allowances Bill passed.
The bill proposes a five-fold rise, to Rs1.6 lakh a month, in pay and perks for MPs.
A joint committee of parliament had proposed that MPs be given a salary of Rs80,000 per month, instead of the Rs16,000 they get at present. It also suggested a 100% rise in their perks — Rs80,000 a month as constituency and secretariat services allowance instead of the Rs40,000 they get at present.
A Rs2,000 a day, instead of Rs1,000 at present, allowance to attend parliament sessions and meetings of various parliamentary committees was also proposed. Effectively, an increase of Rs5 lakh per MP per year.
Sources told DNA the hike would have put an additional burden of Rs170 crore on the exchequer, since the benefits are to be given with retrospective effect.
The argument is that MPs should get the pay-and-perks hike from the date the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission were implemented in 2006.
The report of the joint committee of parliament headed by Congress MP Charan Das Mahant was hurriedly processed and sent to the finance ministry, so that it could be cleared by the cabinet. MPs belonging to all parties called on Pranab and pleaded with him to clear the MPs Salaries and Allowances Bill and ensure its passage in the current session.
They argued if the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Bill could be passed in a single day, why not the MPs bill?
The MPs haven’t got a hike for years and are finding it difficult to discharge their official duties for lack of funds.
However, Pranab gave them the cold shoulder. He told them this was not the right time to push the bill. But given the complex political situation in both Houses of parliament, where the UPA is banking on outside support, Pranab made a promise to clear the proposal before the monsoon session.
