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Hell With Price Rise:MPs MAANGE MORE!, by Poonam I Kaushish, 21 August, 2010 Print E-mail

Political Diary

New Delhi, 21 August 2010


Hell With Price Rise

MPs MAANGE MORE!

By Poonam I Kaushish

 

Finally it’s official. Forget the CWG stadiums. Welcome to the new akhara in town of garam-garam, teekha-teekha dadagiri. You guessed right, India’s high temple of democracy, Parliament. Which yet again became the battleground for our Right Honourables to spew sheer contempt in their collective wisdom, no matter that the very protectors had become its denigrators and destroyers.

 

Tragically, Friday last, another Parliamentary bastion was knocked down to rubble when over 75 MPs held a “mock” session after the Lok Sabha was repeatedly adjourned, over the increase in MPs’ salary and emoluments. Dissatisfied with a 300% raise, our Oliver Twist MPs demanded more i.e. it be raised to 500%. From Rs 16,000 to Rs 80,001, one rupee more than a Secretary as they rank 21st against 23rd on the warrant of precedence.

 

In an unprecedented move, RJD’s Lalu and SP’s Mulayam ‘elected’ themselves Prime Ministers, anointed BJP’s Gopinath Munde as Speaker and a junior MP as Opposition Leader and held an over hour long “mock” session. The first act of ‘PM’ Lalu was to dismiss Manmohan Singh and his Government for being “anti-people.” Said he, “I heard the views of the ‘House’ and the people’s Government rejected outright all Bills passed today.” Sic.

 

Worse, there was no sense of shame or remorse the following day. The issue of pay hike was again raised and resolved only after an assurance was given by Finance Minister that he would look at the matter afresh. Shockingly, our MPs are now going to cost the tax payer Rs.1.30 lakhs per month, up from Rs. 56,000 in 2006.

 

Their basic salary has gone up from Rs 16,000 to Rs 50,000 per month, office expenses from Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 per month, constituency allowance doubled from Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 per month and daily allowance from Rs 1000 to Rs 2000. Pension benefits have also been increased from Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000 per month.

 

Not only that. Every MP can avail 34 single air journeys during a year with spouse, any number of companions or relatives and his wife can now travel innumerable times in first class/executive class. The limit for interest-free loan for buying a personal vehicle has been hiked to Rs 4 lakh from Rs 1 lakh. Topping this, MPs are entitled to rent-free accommodation including five acre bungalows in Lutyens Delhi. Costing the tax payer an extra Rs 60 crore annually.

 

Needless to say, the issue has left a bitter taste in the aam aadmi’s mouth. Already grappling with sky-rocketing prices, shrinking personal budgets, rising unemployment and increasing poverty, the sight of chronically absent MPs showing up in full force to increase their emoluments has only made him more cynical about are netagan.

 

There is no gainsaying that MPs’ have enormous responsibilities, duties to their electorate and busy work schedules, be it attending Parliament or their constituency and has to pay urgent attention whenever a grave situation arises. The moot point: Do they deserve the hike? Do they discharge their responsibilities honestly and honourably? How could they be so audacious?

 

Not at all. Scandalously, about 315 of the 543 lawmakers in the Lok Sabha are crorepatis (people with assets over Rs 10,000,000). In fact, nearly 20% of MPs are worth over Rs 5 crores, the richest MP has a net worth of nearly Rs 800 crores. The less said about the Rajya Sabha sadly today is known as the House of money bags. Wherein a nomination can be “bought” for Rs 10-15 crore! The Congress Party, which heads the UPA Government, has nearly 137 crorepati MPs.

 

In fact, trust our MPs to spread a canard that they are the lowest paid in the world. Nothing could be farther than the truth. If the overall cost of an MP to the country is calculated, our legislators rank higher than their counterparts elsewhere. An MPs total emoluments works-out to Rs 2.2 lakh, in Singapore it is Rs 2.1 lakh, Japan and Italy Rs 1.9 lakh .

 

More. If one goes by the per capita equation, our MPs cost to the nation is 68 times what an average Indian makes, $3, 176. Way above the US, where the ratio to per capita is 35.  Thus, obfuscating the harsh reality whether it behoves a poor country to pay such high dividends to its undeserving Right Honourables. Also, when funding for essential projects is becoming scarce, this hike is an unjustifiable extravagance at the expense of the taxpayer.'

 

Undoubtedly, the hike is uncalled for and shows the insensitivity of the MPs to the problems of the poor. Think. Session after session, year after year the attendance is shrinking, House sittings are decreasing with daily adjournments becoming the order of the day. And crores of tax payers’ hard-earned money is being swept aside by the verbal tide of Parliamentary clashes.

 

Shamefully, for every hour when Parliament is in session, the Government spends nearly Rs.14 lakhs of tax payers’ money. An analysis of the winter session of the 15th Lok Sabha done by the Centre for Policy Research, shows that 48% of MPs didn’t participate in any debate. The productive time was 106 hours - only 76% of what had been scheduled, due to repeated disruptions. The average attendance of the MPs was 66 % and 68% in the Rajya Sabha.

 

Almost 14,207 times the Lok Sabha was interrupted by the members and 102 times it had to be adjourned, the report added The cost of one minute of Parliament functioning is approximately Rs 26,035. Abysmally, only seven out of 545 members of the Lower House of Parliament have 100% attendance. On crucial debates which decide the state and direction for the country only 77% MPs show average interest and 50% have not even participated in any debate. And 93% have no interest in the powerful tool of Private Member's Bill.

 

The current Monsoon Session of Parliament has not witnessed a single full-working day since it started on July 26. So is there any self-introspection among the MPs?  No. They are not concerned with public interest but only interests of the prestige or the longevity of their reign.

 

What kind of governance lies ahead? Clearly the time has come for our Right Honourables to realize that any increase in compensation is co-terminus with an increase in accountability along-with a performance evaluation. This should be based on an annual appraisal policy system whereby each MP is issued a report card on how he fared vis-à-vis attendance, questions asked, participation in debates et al rather than a status quo policy on salary amendments for years together.

 

More than regular attendance in Parliament our MPs need to discharge their responsibilities as jan sevaks honestly and honourably. The MPs should be enjoined to spend a minimum amount of time in the House, just as other office goers. To enforce this, they should be made to sign their attendance twice a day. Once when they arrive and again after lunch. If this does not work, they may even be asked to sign every two hours, if not every hour. Any MP who disrupts the proceedings of either House should be barred from drawing his daily stipend and his salary should be deducted for non-productive activity. We should also adopt the principle of “no work, no pay.” In an extreme case the right to recall should be invoked.

 

Importantly, our Right Honourables need to recognize that they must be deserving before they can desire. The writing is on the wall. If our Right Honourables do not change they will become increasingly irrelevant. Gone are the days when netas were revered, today they symbolize everything that plagues India, warts and all. Will our so- called jan sevaks rise to the occasion? Or will they be remembered as the conversion of human energy into solid waste! ---- INFA

 

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

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