New Delhi: Congress party's chief trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee met Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday to break the deadlock over salary hike for MPs. NDTV sources say, they have reached an agreement.
But the Bill that seeks to increase the salaries of the MPs is unlikely to be introduced today.
On Friday, the Cabinet had approved a 300 per cent hike in the MP's salaries from 16,000 to 50,000 rupees. But the amount was promptly rejected by several parties mainly the Samajwadi party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. They argued it should be, at least, 80,001 rupee more than the highest paid bureaucrat.
Their daily allowance of Rs. 1000 when Parliament is in session has been doubled. Their monthly constitution allowance has also doubled from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 40,000
For their office expenses, they now get Rs. 40,000 - twice what they were entitled to so far.But the Bill that seeks to increase the salaries of the MPs is unlikely to be introduced today.
On Friday, the Cabinet had approved a 300 per cent hike in the MP's salaries from 16,000 to 50,000 rupees. But the amount was promptly rejected by several parties mainly the Samajwadi party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. They argued it should be, at least, 80,001 rupee more than the highest paid bureaucrat.
Their daily allowance of Rs. 1000 when Parliament is in session has been doubled. Their monthly constitution allowance has also doubled from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 40,000
More good news for them. Their conveyance allowance has gone from 1 lakh to 4 lakh.
Spouses are entitled to free train travel from their place of residence to Delhi. Spouses also get upto eight free plane tickets from their place of residence to Delhi.
Lalu Prasad Yadav had led the campaign for new salaries after the Cabinet indicated it wanted to defer a hike. Ministers who said the timing was not correct for higher salaries included Home Minister P Chidambaram and Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni.
They believe that the recent hike in petrol prices as well as the bevy of corruption allegations for the Commonwealth Games make it tough to justify a raise at this point. However, MPs pointed out that they are among the lowest-paid public representatives in the world.
MPs unhappy? Uproar in Lok Sabha over salary hike
Samajwadi Party (SP), Baujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) members on Friday forced adjournment of the Lok Sabha for an hour voicing dissatisfaction over the quantum of proposed salary hike for MPs.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned for an hour on Friday as SP, BSP and RJD members voiced dissatisfaction over the quantum of proposed salary hike for MPs.
Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) and Lalu Prasad (RJD) were on their feet during Question Hour claiming that the government had insulted Parliament by rejecting the recommendation of its Committee to raise the basic salary to Rs. 80,001 per month.
The Cabinet, at a meeting, approved a proposal to raise the basic salary of MPs to Rs. 50,000 from present level of Rs. 16,000.
"The government decision is an insult of Parliament. The bill should be torn to pieces," Yadav said in the Lok Sabha.
SP members, led by Yadav, backed Prasad and trooped to the well demanding that the MPs' Salary Bill be taken back.
BSP members and a lone JD(U) member who was present were also seen on their feet supporting the issue.
Amidst the ruckus, the government got two bills passed - the medical council of India bill and the trade mark bill. BJP MPs, especially Uday Singh and Kirti Azad protested over the manner in which the government got the bills passed and RJD and Samajwadi Party MPs were upset over the quantum of the salary hike and refused to leave the House after it was adjourned.
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