New Delhi:
They want a 100 per cent hike in their salary, but the government does not agree. Now parliamentarians want to compare their pay with that of their counterparts in countries like the US, UK and Germany.
Sources say the idea was discussed at a meeting of the MPs' committee on salaries and allowances today. Members reportedly called for a discussion paper to compare their salaries with other Commonwealth countries, the US and Germany. They also favoured a separate mechanism to decide on increasing their salaries on a regular basis, just like it is done for government staff.
There was nothing official about these discussions; the committee's recommendation that MP salaries be doubled from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh has reportedly not been accepted, mainly because a pay revision usually takes place every 10 years and there are five more years to go till the next. The parliamentarians' demands for separate cars, security across the country, access to all state guest houses and free air travel for former MPs have also been rejected, say sources.
The government is reportedly amenable to a marginal increase and many not be averse to raising the constituency development allowance - Rs 45,000 - and the furniture allowance of Rs 75,000. The pension amount could also go up as few disagree that Rs 20,000 is too little, sources say.
The MPs' panel recommended that the daily allowance of Rs.2,000 for attending Parliament should be doubled to Rs. 4,000. It also pitched for more privileges, including health care benefits to married children of lawmakers.
Officially, the chairman of the committee, BJP MP Yogi Adityanath, told NDTV that there is no proposal on the table for a raise and there were no discussions on it.