Lavish hike likely in salary, perks for MPs

George Iype in New Delhi

India's 790 members of Parliament are likely to get a hefty hike in their salaries and perks as the United Front government has decided to implement the A R Antulay committee recommendations on MPs's service norms.

Thus, an MP who at present gets a monthly salary of Rs 1,500, constituency allowance of Rs 3,000 and office expense allowance of Rs 1,000 will begin to take home Rs 3,000, Rs 6,000 and Rs 5,500 respectively.

Besides the government plans to bestow the MPs with a host of other amenities. An MP and his/her spouse is currently entitled to 28 free air journeys every year. This will now be hiked to 32 air journeys and include all the members of the MP's family.

The 50,000 free telephone calls per year that an MP is entitled to at present will be increased to 100,000 such calls annually. The interest-free car loan -- Rs 50,000 -- granted to each MP will be upped to Rs 100,000.

The MPs will also get free furniture for their government-owned homes in New Delhi. They will also secure comprehensive medical insurance cover for themselves, their spouses and children below 18 years.

Revision of pay, perks and other amenities for MPs was one of the Gujral Cabinet's first decisions last week. Sources said the government will move a Bill in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament to give the legislatory seal of approval to the Antulay committee's recommendations.

That India's MPs were the lowest paid elected representatives in the world was part of the findings of the committee headed by Congress MP Antulay way back in 1993. The other members of the committee were Indrajit Gupta (CPI), Jayanti Natarajan (Congress), Ram Vilas Paswan (Janata Dal) and Gumal Mal Lodha (BJP).

The committee recommended the government ensure that 'MPs in India stand on a footing which is not too adverse compared to their counterparts in foreign countries.'

Thus among the other benefits, the committee also suggested allocation of Rs 20 million for the development of each MP's constituency, revival of the Delhi Development Authority flats quota to MPs, liberal secretarial assistance and removal of the ceiling on electricity and water consumption by the MPs.

The government expects that the legislation to raise the MPs's remuneration will have a smooth passage through Parliament. But Left leaders have argued that more than doubling the salaries and perks of MPs at one go will put parliamentarians in a bad light before the public.

Thus, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India have suggested to the government that stress should be placed on the betterment of infrastructure facilities for MPs rather than hike their salaries.

But not many MPs are willing to heed the Left's demands. Says BJP MP Vijay Kumar Malhotra: "The salary of an MP is less than a chaprasi. Nowhere in the world is the MP's salary and other amenities so low as that in India."

A member of the US senate, he said, gets nearly a dozen secretaries to assist him. "Parliamentarians in India need more research back-up and secretarial assistance," Malhotra told Rediff On The NeT.

Most MPs have very poor track records in utilising funds meant for public welfare. In the past three years, most MPs have not cared to utilise the Rs 10 million granted to each of them for development in their constituency. Many MPs also refused to pay back the interest-free car loans they have secured from the government.