The stage is set for a five-fold salary hike for MPs. A joint parliamentary committee has recommended that an MP's salary be hiked from the existing Rs 16,000 to Rs 80,000,which would be at par with that of a secretary to the Union government. On the face of it, an MP's current salary might not seem high. But when one factors in perks such as virtually free accommodation, phone calls and healthcare in addition to a daily allowance when Parliament is in session, constituency allowance of Rs 20,000 per month, 34 single air journey tickets and a free first class railway pass, the picture is quite different. According to back-of-the-envelope calculations, an MP's real salary, including freebies, adds up to an impressive Rs 38 lakh per year.
Our MPs clearly don't deserve a salary hike. Any pay raise must be linked to performance. But the track record of Indian MPs in the recent past has been poor, to say the least. They have neglected one of their basic duties crafting and debating legislation. The figures for business conducted by Parliament speak for themselves. The number of sittings of the Lok Sabha has come down from a yearly average of 124 in the first decade of 1952-61 to 81 between 1992-2001, a decline of 34 per cent. For the same period, the decline for Rajya Sabha was 20 per cent. This has had a direct impact on the number of Bills passed by Parliament. The annual average of the number of Bills passed has come down from 68 in the first decade to 50 between 1992-2001.
This hasn't got any better in the past few sessions of Parliament.The government could only get six of the 27 planned Bills for the budget session passed.The number of pending Bills has shot up to 70. And even when Bills are passed, they are done without debate since MPs are busy shouting slogans or creating mayhem in the House.
In such a situation, it is absurd that the MPs get to decide their own salaries and the quantum of pay hikes.Instead, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's suggestion that an independent commission look into the question of MPs' salaries and make recommendations must be taken up. That way we might arrive at a more realistic revision of the salary structure for MPs.
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(source-toi)
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