The pay and benefits of Indian lawmakers have been revised several times upwards twice in two weeks, with the Union Cabinet on Monday approving a further increase in allowances to the parliamentarians, days after it had given its nod for a three-fold hike of MPs’ salary. The latest increase was necessitated to pacify a section of agitated Opposition members who had expressed dissatisfaction at the approved hike and were demanding further increase in the salary for the Members of Parliament (MPs).
The Union Cabinet has approved a hike of Rs 10,000 in allowances in the form of increased expenses for constituency and office maintenance. The three-fold base salary hike to Rs 50,000 from Rs 16,000 remained unaltered. With Monday’s hike, the MPs would be entitled to Rs 45,000 per month towards expenses for constituency and office maintenance. Besides, they also enjoy several other benefits, including free air and train tickets with companions.
The Cabinet, under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will bring amendments to the MPs' salary hike bill it had cleared last week. However, the latest move is also unlikely to completely pacify the agitated members, led by Lalu Prasad (Rashriyta Janata Dal) and Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party). They have been demanding that the MPs’ salary be pegged at Rs 80,001, a rupee more than the highest paid government employee is. A joint parliamentary committee had also recommended the Rs 80,001 figure, but the Union Cabinet had shot it down. Though the MPs are now arguing that they need the money to meet their many expenses, the politicians fail to fare well in scales of accountability and integrity.
According to Transparency International, in 2009, India was ranked 84 out 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). As per experts, the integrity rating of 3.2-3.6 of India means the country is highly corrupt. Zero (0) is the most corrupt and 10 least corrupt.
Again, a recent survey by the Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) said the common people in India have no faith in politicians and consider them most corrupt among the various groups.
