A salary hike of close to 300 per cent would leave most jumping with joy. But our country’s MPs are fretting and fuming and demanding more. Nothing less than a 500 per cent hike, as recommended by the joint committee on salaries and allowances of MPs, would suffice, they say.
By itself, a salary of Rs 16,000 per month for an MP might seem a piffling amount. However, this salary comes with a generous list of perks and allowances, all at the taxpayer’s expense. The present raise will increase an MP’s salary to Rs 50,000 per month though what our demanding MPs are seeking is an increase to Rs 80,000 per month.
According to the Cabinet note recommending a hike cleared Friday, the salary and allowances increase would entail an annual expenditure of Rs 142.26 crores and also involve expenditure of Rs 118 crores on payment of arrears and pensions. The arrears will have to be paid as the enhanced salary will come into effect from the date the 15th Lok Sabha was constituted.
The additional bill for the current financial year is estimated to be around Rs 212.81 crores.