Two ex-speakers want to be treated like ex-Pres

A demand by two former speakers for being treated on par with former Presidents and vice presidents in relation to facilities like accommodation and some other perks was on Monday shot down by the government.

However, the government is not averse to providing secretarial facilities to them.

The issue arose out of letters by former Speakers P A Sangma and Somnath Chatterjee to Speaker Meira Kumar seeking certain facilities like free accommodation in Delhi and transportation and secretarial facilities on the lines of those extended to former Presidents and vice-presidents.

The proposal was forwarded to the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry as an amendment to the Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament Act, 1953, which is necessary to extend the facilities.

"Former Speakers cannot be on par with former Presidents and vice-presidents," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters while commenting on the demand by the two former speakers.

At the same time, he said he was going through the demands to see what minimum could be done.

Sources said the government is not averse to extending facilities such as secretarial assistance to former speakers. But at the same time, they said facilities should be extended to speakers who complete their full term and do not step down in between.

They said speakers, who go on to take other official assignments after their term ends, should not get the proposed facilities.

Officials of the parliamentary affairs ministry are working on the "short amendment" but no draft cabinet note has been prepared so far as consultations have to be held with other ministries like finance on the matter, the sources said.