Amid pending pay hike, Varun asks MPs to let go of privileges
NEW DELHI: BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Tuesday pitched for setting up an external body — independent of parliamentarians — to decide their salary.
The Sultanpur MP asked parliamentarians to forgo their privileges for the remaining period of Parliament, considering the economic conditions of the last man in the society, especially the farmers.
Parliament in India decides remuneration of its members, and a proposal to double their salary and significantly hike their allowances is currently pending with the government.
An MP currently draws a salary of ₹50,000 and nearly an equal amount as allowances.
Incidentally, Tamil Nadu assembly members on July 19 gave a 100% hike to themselves.
The state is one of the worst drought-affected states, where farmers are protesting for remunerative price of their produce.
“Arrogating to ourselves the authority to increase our own fiscal compensation is not in line with the morals of our democracy,” Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha.
He disagreed with the argument about MPs getting paid like private sector, arguing that those employed in the private sector are driven primarily by self-interest.
“Ours is a service to the nation, a mission to make this the India of our dreams. To compare these two motives is to misunderstand the commitment to public life,” Gandhi said.
The BJP MP also invoked first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, whose government had decided that ministers will not avail their salaries for 6 months in view of the economic sufferings of the citizens at the time.
“As compared to a 13% rise (in salaries and allowance) in UK, we have raised our salaries 400% in the last decade. Have we really earned this massive increment?”