Ministers felt it was inappropriate to ask for higher salaries when people were upset about the rise in prices. They felt it would be better if MPs send out a message of austerity.
Opposition from some Cabinet ministers has forced the government to defer a bill seeking to raise the salaries of members of parliament (MPs) from Rs16,000 to Rs50,000 per month.
Ministers felt it was inappropriate to ask for higher salaries when people were upset about the rise in prices. They felt it would be better if MPs send out a message of austerity.
The bill was unanimously recommended for passage by a joint parliamentary committee. Had the Cabinet given its nod on Monday, it would have been introduced in parliament before the end of the Monsoon session.
A joint parliamentary committee (JPC), led by Congress MP Charandas Mahant, had recommended that the salary of MPs should be a rupee more than that of a secretary in the government of India. The secretary gets Rs80,000 a month. But the parliamentary affairs ministry suggested a salary of Rs50,000. Therefore, the bill placed before the Cabinet was a watered-down version of the JPC recommendations.
The JPC had recommended a five-fold hike in the salary of MPs from Rs16,000 to Rs80,001 per month on the logic that MPs rank above secretaries to the government in warrant of precedence, hence they should get at least Re1 more than them.
The JPC had also observed that the current salary of MPs (Rs1.92 lakhs per annum) was the lowest among parliamentarians of all democratic countries.
Against this recommendation from the JPC, the draft bill placed before the Cabinet had suggested that the salary be hiked from Rs16,000 to Rs50,000 per month. But this too did not get the Cabinet nod. Defending the salary hike proposal, Congress MP Rajeev Shukla said, “The salary of an Indian MP is the lowest in the world. They get paid less than a government clerk... MPs are above secretaries in rank and look at the difference in their salaries.” He got full support from BJP member SS Ahluwalia.
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