Fed up with the conflicting and weird stories about "ridiculous salary of MPs" I decided to do some research of my own. I have tried to summarize as briefly as possible the Acts and Rules I came across during my research. I have tried my best not to take sides and leave the judgment to the readers. What I do hope is that next time when we make opinions - they should not be out of ignorance.
SALARY
SALARY
Here is the breakup of the actual money MPs receive per annum. The money is received under different heads though.
· Salary- Rs. 50,000/ month during the whole of his term of office.
· Constituency allowance -Rs. 45,000/ month
· Office Expense Allowance - Rs. 45,000/month, out of which only Rs.15,000 he has to use for buying stationery etc., the rest can be spend the way he likes.
· Daily Allowance- Rs. 2000/day during any ‘period of residence on duty’. This is where it gets interesting. 'Period of residence on duty' means the period during which a member resides at a place where a session of a House of Parliament or a sitting of a Committee is held or where any other business connected with his duties as such member is transacted. Even a member who ordinarily resides at a place where such sessions or meeting are held is deemed to reside at such place. Moreover, if there is a gap of less than 5 days between two meetings and a member elects to reside at the same place he gets allowance for those extra days.
Ø Where a Member is provided with free board and lodging at the expense of the Government of India or a State Government or a Local Fund - 1/2 of the daily allowance
Ø If only board or lodging is allowed free to a Member – 3/4 of the daily allowance
All the above are in addition to each other and there does not need to be an actual expenditure to avail such allowances. Thus the total annual income received irrespective of whatever expenditure that a MP makes is around Rs. 18, 80,000. (I have taken the period of residence on duty to be 100 days, which is a bare minimum. The MP may in circumstances receive a higher amount of salary depending on this variable.)
Now let’s see how much they need to spend anyway.
OTHER AMENITIES-
1.Travel Allowance-
a. Journey for purpose of duty-
Paid for journey from his usual place of residence to the place where the meeting etc. to be held and for the return journey from such place to his usual place of residence—
· By rail - 1 First class fare + 1 second class fare for each such journey, irrespective of the class in which the member actually travels; (This means that even if the actual cost of the ticket by which he travelled is Rs. 2000, he will be paid first class fare which might be Rs. 3000)
· By air - an amount equal to 1 + ¼ of the air fare for each such journey;
· If any part by Road- road mileage at Rs. 16/km
b. Journey during a session of the house or committee meetings (not for duty)-
If less than 15 days during the session paid for journey to such place and for the return journey—
· By rail - 1 First class fare/ each journey irrespective of the class in which the member actually travels;
· By air- 1 fare by air/ each journey (being a journey during a sitting of the Committee)
Conditions-
1) Cannot be more than the daily allowance for days absent.
2) Interestingly, condition 1 does not apply if the journey is taken by air only once during a sitting of the committee.
(So a person gets paid the travel allowance upto daily allowance , even when he is not attending the house.)
c. Any other journey performed in India (not for duty)-
Air fare - for each single journey by air - either alone or alongwith spouse or any number of companions or relatives from - any place in India to any other place in India during his term of office
(What a provision…seriously! No wonder Air India is running in losses.)
Conditions-
1) Total number of such journeys – 34/year
2) If in any year number less than 34, it is carried forward to next year.
3) If number of journeys exceeded, then can be adjusted in the next year. (upto 8 journeys)
d. Free Transit by Railway.
· One free non-transferable first class air-conditioned or executive class of any train pass which shall entitle him to travel at any time by any railway in India.
· Until, a person get this pass- shall be entitled to an amount equal to 1 first class air-conditioned or executive class of any train fare for any journey.
Interestingly, this is apart from what a Member will be entitled because of the other previous allowance. (So even if he travels using a transit pass, he can still claim travelling allowance, very smart!)
2. Housing Facilities:
· Housing-
o A flat- without payment of any charges
o Bungalow at his request - pay normal licence fee
· Free electricity - upto a maximum of (50000) units/annum
· Free Water – upto (4000) kilolitres / annum
· Furniture- upto Rs. 60,000 durable and Rs. 15,000 non-durable
Conditions-
1) If both husband and wife are members of either or the same House of Parliament and are residing in the same accommodation- they separately get the above water and electricity.
2) Where licence fee is payable on account of any improvement or addition made to it or any additional service provided thereto, it shall be 25% less than the normal rent payable. Interestingly Additional Service includes-
· the provisions of Sweepers, Jamadars and the staff attached to members residences with dusters and brooms;
· the supply of electric bulbs at the residences of members;
· the maintenance of flower beds;
· the maintenance of any place (like an Enquiry Office) intended for the common benefit of members; and
· any other service provided for the common benefit of Members
3) An additional provision such as tiles in bath-room and kitchen as demanded and the facility of washing of sofa covers and curtains after every 3 months is provided free of cost.
4) The charges for the transport of any items of furniture to/or from the residence made at the request – 25 % less than the actual charges.
3. Telephone Charges
a. First phone-
· Free installation and rental of 1 telephone - either at his residence or at his office in Delhi
· Free calls- first 50,000 local calls/year
b. Additional Phone-
· Free installation and rental 1telephone - either at his usual place of residence or at a place selected by him
· Free calls - first 50,000 local calls/year
c. Further Additional phone-
· Free installation and rental 1telephone –
o at his office situated at his residence in Delhi or New Delhi; or
o at his usual place of residence; or
o at a place, selected by him, within his constituency or State; or
o within the State in which he resides for Internet connectivity purposes
· Free calls - first 50,000 local calls/year
d. Two Mobile Connection-
· Free Registration and rental - MTNL with national roaming facility + MTNL or BSNL with national roaming facility for utilization in his constituency
· Free calls – to be adjusted in the free calls in a., b. c. above
e. One free Broadband Internet Connection-
From MTNL or BSNL on any one of the above telephone upto Rs. 1500/month
Note- this does not include the amenities for the spouse of an MP or to ex-MPs. I will like to deal with that in my next post. You will be quite amazed to see how much even a non-MP gets paid out of public revenues.
