Cabinet clears raise for MPs; salaries go from Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 50,000

M.today

New Delhi, August 20: India’s members of parliament have finally got what they wanted - a raise. Their salaries will climb from Rs. 16,000 a month to Rs. 50,000.

Their daily allowance of Rs. 1000 when parliament is in session has been doubled. Their monthly constitution allowance has also doubled from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 40,000.

For their office expenses, they now get Rs. 40,000 - twice what they were entitled to so far.

More good news for them. Their conveyance allowance has gone from 1 lakh to 4 lakhs.

Spouses are entitled to free train travel from their place of residence to Delhi. Spouses also get upto eight free plane tickets from their place of residence to Delhi.

Lalu Prasad Yadav had led the campaign for new salaries after the Cabinet indicated it wanted to defer a hike. Ministers who said the timing was not correct for higher salaries included Home Minister P Chidambaram and Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni.

They believe that the recent hike in petrol prices as well as the bevy of corruption allegations for the Commonwealth Games make it tough to justify a raise at this point. However, MPs pointed out that they are among the lowest-paid public representatives in the world.

MPs Not Happy With 300 Percent Hike, Lalu Maange More

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal members forced the adjournment of the Lok Sabha for an hour, voicing dissatisfaction over the quantum of salary hike for MPs.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad claimed that the government had insulted Parliament by rejecting the recommendation of its committee to raise the basic salary to Rs 80,001 per month.

"The government decision is an insult of Parliament. The bill should be torn to pieces," Prasad said in the Lok Sabha.

SP members, led by Yadav, backed Prasad and trooped to the well, demanding that the MPs’ Salary Bill be taken back. Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the proceedings till noon.

PTI

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Comments on this Article
John Tauro, Mangalore / Kuwait	Sat, August-21-2010, 8:35
What is the need for hike in conveyance allowance when they are entitled to first class train travel? Government should think twice before granting such unnecessary hike when 65 percent of the country’s population is still below poverty line.
Benedict Noronha, Udupi	Fri, August-20-2010, 12:29
Shame and disgrace!. A Government which could not regularise ration through ration card and keep up election promises is raising their own salaries and allowances -reaching to the sky? They have no time to? The solution is, all old gards above age 65 must be thrown out in the next elections and there must be age limit for M.P.s to contest elections- not more than 60 years and only THREE chances upto this age. Only Presidential candidate be of age 65 because Judicial Officers age is 65 years to retire. Else the common man will continue to suffer, and maladministration will continue.

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