New Delhi, Aug. 20: A salary hike of something close to 300 per cent would leave most jumping with joy.
But it’s left our country’s MPs fretting and fuming and demanding more. Nothing less than a hike of 500 per cent, as recommended by the joint committee on salaries and allowances, would suffice, they say.
By itself, a salary of `16,000 per month for an MP might seem a piffling amount.
However, it should be noted that this salary comes with a generous list of perks and allowances. All, of course, at the taxpayer’s expense.
The present raise will increase an MP’s salary to `50,000 per month though what our demanding MPs are seeking is an increase to `80,000 per month.
Among the reasons cited by the parliamentary joint committee for fixing this amount — “Indian MPs are paid much lower than other holders of public offices and senior civil servants.”
According to the Cabinet note recommending a hike cleared Friday, the salary and allowances increase would entail an annual expenditure of `142.26 crores for the country.
The MPs are griping despite freebies like flats in the Sylvan Lutyens Bungalow Zone in the heart of the national capital, free telephone calls, a free rail pass and water and electricity supply up to generous limits.