Parliament nod to bill to cut salary and allowances of ministers by 30%

Parliament on Sunday passed the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which proposes to reduce the salaries and allowances of ministers by 30 per cent for a year to augment financial resources required to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Opposing an ordinance issued earlier this year to effect the salary and allowance cut, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said in Lok Sabha that the move was like being "penny wise and pound foolish." He said more money was spent in preparing copies of the bill than the amount saved in cutting allowances of ministers.

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the idea was more to do with contributing to a cause. All including, the amount saved will be Rs 4 crore, the minister said.

The bill was later passed by a voice vote in the lower house.

Parliament had recently passed a bill to cut the salaries of MPs by 30 per cent for one year. The amount saved will be used in government's fight against the pandemic.