Government proposes panel on MPs' salaries

The government has proposed to set up a special commission to review and recommend salaries and allowances of members of parliament, an official release said here on Sunday.

The ministry of parliamentary affairs says a three-member independent Emoluments Commission would be set up to recommend salaries and other allowances for MPs.

The proposal is contained in the agenda notes prepared by the ministry for the two-day All India Whips' Conference in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh from September 29. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu will chair the conference, the release said.

"The setting up of an independent Emoluments Commission for recommending the salaries and allowances of the members of parliament will not only put to rest the public outcry and media criticism over MPs themselves deciding their salaries, it will also provide an appropriate opportunity to take into consideration the huge responsibilities and the important role they play in our representative democracy," the agenda note said.

According to the agenda note, the general principles suggested by the ministry for determining salary say that it should not be so low as to deter suitable candidates or so high as to make the pay the primary attraction for the job.

It should also reflect the level of responsibility and not deter those with outside interests from entering parliament.

Chief whips and whips of various political parties in parliament and state legislatures will attend the conference and discuss establishing inter-party forums in legislatures for better coordination to enable effective functioning of legislative bodies.

The delegates will also discuss the utility and shortcomings of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme in the light of its implementation over the last 32 years and make suggestions and recommendations.

The last revision in salaries of MPs was made in 2010. Parliamentarians at present get a basic salary of Rs.50,000 per month.

As per a comparative analysis of MPs in 37 developing and developed countries, the basic salary of MPs ranges from Rs.7,952 in Tunisia to a high of Rs.6,16,675 per month in Israel.

Members of parliament in only six countries - Tunisia, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Haiti and Panama - draw salaries less than the parliamentarians in India.