Speaker Somnath Chatterjee lashed out at unruly members of Parliament in Lok Sabha, saying they “didn’t deserve a paisa”.
Members of Parliament may already be in poll mode, but Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee is not ready to share the holiday mood that seems to have gripped Parliament.
As the Lower House dissolved on Thursday into scenes reminiscent of the last day at school with unruly MPs crowding into the well to shout slogans and generally disrupt proceedings, Chatterjee lost his cool.
“You are wasting public money,” he shouted at the MPs milling around his chair. “You do not deserve even a single paisa. You don’t deserve any allowances. I think this House should be adjourned sine die. This is the only way to save public money.”
Chatterjee’s fury had little impact as MPs, who continued to raise slogans. BJP and BSP MPs wanted to register their protest against the denial of reservation for backward classes in postal services. MPs from Tamil Nadu were demanding an end to the war in Sri Lanka. TDP MPs wanted Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s head for the Satyam scam.
The speaker’s frustration over this disregard for Parliament was understandable. 2008 was the worst in parliamentary history with the Lok Sabha recording its lowest tally of sittings.
It met for just 46 days in the entire year though convention demands that Parliament sit for at least four months over three sessions. The Lok Sabha’s 2008 performance added up to the sorry figure of 258 hours and 24 minutes.
His anguish is not misplaced. Consider the expense to the public exchequer to keep this nerve centre of democracy going. It costs Rs26,000 per minute of taxpayers’ money to run Parliament.
Each of the 800-odd MPs receives a monthly pay packet of Rs56,000 plus a host of privileges such as free accommodation, travel, telephone, and a daily allowance of Rs1,000 when Parliament is in session.
The irony is that Chatterjee will be travelling to Bangladesh on February 22 to lecture the newly elected MPs there on the norms of parliamentary behaviour. The record back home is hardly worth emulating.
National Election Watch, an organisation trying to prevent people with criminal charges from contesting elections, said that 123 (or 24%) of the 543 Lok Sabha members are criminals.
What they get
Monthly salary: Rs16,000
Monthly constituency allowance: Rs20,000
Monthly office expenses: Rs20,000
Daily allowance (during session): Rs1,000
Free annual rail pass for first-class air-conditioned travel
Free annual rail pass for AC II tier travel for companion
Free accommodation in Delhi
Free water up to 4000 kl annually
Free electricity up to 50,000 units annually
Free washing of sofa covers and curtains
Free furniture up to Rs6,000
Free telephones, one in Delhi and one in the constituency
Mobile phone with up to 1,50,000 free calls annually
Free medical care at government-recognised hospitals
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