Congress on Tuesday hit out at the Opposition for forcing adjournment of the Lok Sabha over MPs’ salaries on which the Cabinet has deferred a decision, saying it did not send out a proper signal to the nation.
“I do not think it is an issue which warrants the adjournment of the House, because according to us it has not sent out a proper signal to the people of this country,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters outside Parliament here.
He said a joint Parliamentary Committee had made certain recommendations on the issues of MPs’ salary hike and it was for the government to take a call on the quantum and the timing of the hike.
Asked for his personal views on the matter as an MP, Mr. Tewari refused to speak, but said he would discuss the issue in detail later.
“If you want my personal views, come over to my office and I shall discuss the issue with you in detail,” he said.
Minister of State for Telecommunications and Information Technology Sachin Pilot, when asked for his views on the issue, said the Cabinet would take a decision on it soon.
He said the matter had come up before the Cabinet only after taking the views of all MPs into account. “There is a pay revision for civil servants done by a commission. But in the case of MPs, they recommended a salary revision for themselves and this could invite objection from some quarters,” he said.
“It is a collective decision and not that of any individual or any particular House of Parliament,” Mr. Pilot said when asked why a large number of MPs from Rajya Sabha were opposing the salary hike.
LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, on his part, said MPs were criticised by the general public for “accepting commissions”, but they refuse to look at the reality.
“An honest MP’s expenses on guests, medicare and stay has to be taken into account. MPs should not be criticised for raising the issue of hike in their salaries,” he said.
Calling for taking a “practical view” considering the cost of living today, Mr. Paswan said the current salary of an MP was not enough to meet even basic expenses.
“The Cabinet should not have postponed a decision on the salaries of MPs and should have passed it yesterday in its meeting,” he said.
Reacting to the Congress’ views that it was up to the government to take a decision on the salaries, Mr. Paswan said if that was the case, why was the parliamentary committee formed on the issue in the first place.
“Why form a committee if its suggestion is not being considered for implementation? Let the government take a decision on its own,” he said.
Mr. Paswan also suggested the setting up of an independent committee to decide on MPs’ salaries taking in to account the current cost of living.
“Parliament is the government, but government servants salary is four times more than that of a member of Parliaments. This is not justified,” he said.
