The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was introduced in the Lower House on Monday. It will replace the Salary, Allowances And Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.
Updated: September 15, 2020
Lok Sabha passed a bill to reduce MPs' salaries by 30% for a year due to cost cuts over Covid
New Delhi:
Lok Sabha has passed a bill to
reduce for one year the salaries of MPs by 30 per cent "to meet the
exigencies" arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Salary,
Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020
was introduced in the Lower House on Monday. It will replace the Salary,
Allowances And Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Ordinance,
2020.
The ordinance was cleared by the Cabinet on April 6 and put into effect the next day.
Replying
to the debate on the bill, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi
said that funds are needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and "charity
should begin from home".
He also said that the economy was
affected due to the lockdown, and in such a situation, the government
has taken important decisions to deal with the crisis.
Responding
to the demand by opposition members to restore MP Local Area Development
Scheme (MPLADS), he said: "Whatever decision we have taken on MPLADS is
temporary and only for two years".
It was decided by the government to suspend the MPLADS funds for 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.
Under the scheme, members of both Houses can recommend development programmes involving spending of ₹ 5 crore every year.
The
Congress and other opposition parties in Lok Sabha demanded the
restoration of MPLADS funds even as they supported the government's
decision to cut the salaries of members of Parliament.
Leader
of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said the
MPLADS funds should be restored as it is being used by the members for
development works in their respective constituencies.
Everybody
has called for the restoration of the funds, so "why not we pass a
unanimous resolution that the fund should be restored," he said.
He
said that 93 per cent of the funds have been utilised by the members
and the bulk of them were used for welfare activities for Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes and villagers.
He said that while the
government is giving tax relief to corporates, it is cutting the
salaries of the MPs, and termed it as being "penny-wise and
pound-foolish".
"I am appealing to the House that this fund should be restored," he added.
Members
who echoed the demand included AAP's Bhagwant Mann, independent member
from Maharashtra Navneet Ravi Rana, Ritesh Pandey (BSP) and AIMIM's S I
Jaleel.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra said the government is doing a disservice through this decision.
Source : https://www.ndtv.com
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