Bowing to the strong arm tactics of MPs to hike their salaries, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government was trying to bring a bill in this regard in this session. On Tuesday, Mukherjee said in the Lok Sabha that this has to be done through a legislation. A bill has to be brought to amend the Salaries And Allowances Of Member Of Parliament Act, 1954... We are trying bring the legislation in this session.
Finance minister gave this assurance came after MPS created a scene uproar over the Union Cabinet`s deferment of a decision on a proposal to increase the salaries of MPs three-fold from Rs 16,000 per month.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad asked Mukherjee to give concrete assurance.
MPs currently get Rs 16,000 per month as salary, but the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry has suggested raising it to Rs 50,000 as against Rs 80,001 recommended by a Parliamentary Committee on the grounds that it would be one rupee more than that of a secretary at Rs 80,001.
Besides the base salary, an MP gets a daily allowance of Rs 1,000 for each day when Parliament is in session or a sitting of a House committee is scheduled. A member is also entitled to a constituency allowance of Rs 20,000 per month and office expense allowance of another Rs 20,000 each month.
"We are ready. Bring the Bill tomorrow, we will pass it in two minutes," he said, leaving Mukherjee smiling. However, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar preferred to remain neutral on the question of salary hike for MPs.
"At the moment, you saw a turmoil in the House and their (MPs`) different opinions. When different opinions are there in the House, for a Speaker, who is supposed to be neutral, to express her opinion will not be proper," she told reporters outside Parliament House.
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