No one denies the right of our parliamentarians to salary increases (“Should MPs decide their own salaries?”, August 11). But this is complicated by the fact that many of our parliamentarians are already very rich. Similar salaries and benefits in the private sector would attract significant levels of taxes, and that includes any perquisites which the employer may offer to retain talented employees. Our parliamentarians get tax-free incomes and perquisites. Often they are not present in Parliament. When they are, they stage walkouts. There are frequent adjournments, which means their work in Parliament gets cut short. Along with the benefits that they demand, our parliamentarians should also accept the right of the citizens to recall and elect more responsible members if they do not perform.
Our elected representatives can think of constituting a body that would determine the levels of salary and perquisites. The subsidies parliamentarians enjoy at the public’s cost should be rationalised and in tune with our economic reality. Exhorting citizens to give up subsides to help the poor when our elected representatives avail them does not sound right.
H.N. Ramakrishna,
Bengaluru
