3-member panel to fix pay, perks of MPs to be set up soon

The government is all set to constitute a 3-member Emoluments Commission to determine the salary and allowances of MPs after the All India Whips Conference endorsed a proposal of the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry in this regard.
The proposal was widely supported at the Conference which discussed a large of number of issues concerning Parliament and state legislatures.
The move comes in the backdrop of a controversy over a parliamentary panel's recommendations to double the pay and perks of lawmakers.
The Conference also urged the central and the state governments to take lead in establishing inter-party forums in Parliament and state legislatures for enabling regular dialogue to tackle contentious issues.

These forums would work informally and enable better performance of the Houses. The move comes in the wake of frequent disruptions marking Parliament's functioning since the NDA took office and a near washout of Monsoon Session over Lalitgate and Vyapam issues due to which the government could not push its legislative agenda and failed to pass key reform measures.
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs proposed Emoluments Commission to determine the salary and allowances of MPs keeping in view their responsibilities in a fair, transparent and equitable manner, which got "wide support" after extensive deliberations, sources in the ministry said.

The confrence also adopted a resolution in this regard and urged the states to ensure uniformity in salaries of legislators across the country with varying allowances depending on the situation in each state.

"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," sources in the ministry said.
"It would ensure that recommendations on Parliamentary salary are reached in a fair, transparent and equitable way. Once there is consensus on setting up of the Commission, the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act,1954 will be suitably amended," sources added.

In June, a parliamentary panel had pitched for 100 percent hike in salary and daily allowances of MPs and 75 percent raise in pension of ex-MPs apart from facilities for their 'companions' in place of 'spouses'.
The panel, headed BJP MP Yogi Adityanath, had also sought doubling of the existing Rs 50,000 salary of MPs and favoured increasing the pension of former parliamentarians from Rs 20,000 to Rs 35,000. This had led to a controversy and the ministry rejected most of the panel's recommendations.