Members of Parliament get 24% increase in salaries adjusted as per Cost Inflation Index

New Delhi – The Government of India has issued a notification confirming a 24% increase in the salaries and pensions of current and former Members of Parliament (MPs), including those in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Due to this, the MPs will get a salary of Rs 1,24,000 lakhs per month instead of Rs 1 lakh. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs’ notification also raised the daily allowance for sitting MPs from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500.

The pension of former MPs has been increased from Rs 25,000 to Rs 31,000 per month. The additional pension for every year of service in excess of five years has been increased from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 2,500. (A common person gets this much pension after serving in the Government for 30-35 years; then why do people who have been MPs for only 5 years get so much pension ? – Editor)

The current MPs are paid Rs 70,000 per month for constituency expenses, Rs 60,000 as office expenses, and Rs 2,000 as daily allowance during the Parliament session. This allowance will also be increased. MPs are given Government accommodation in Delhi, which includes 50,000 units of electricity and 4,000 litres of water free of cost. (Are these monitored or is there unnecessary use of water and electricity ? – Editor)

MPs are also entitled to purchase durable furniture worth Rs 1 lakh and non-durable furniture of Rs 25,000 once during their tenure.

Article 106 of the Constitution empowers MPs to determine their salaries and allowances by enacting laws. Until 2018, Parliament periodically passed laws to revise the salaries of MPs. In 2018, via the Finance Act, which former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled, Parliament amended the law for fixing the salary of MPs.

The increase in salary is now notified in exercise of the powers granted under the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act on the basis of the Cost Inflation Index specified in the Income Tax Act of 1961.

Editorial Perspectives
Looking at the salaries paid to the MPs, it has now become necessary to make a rule to deduct money from their salaries, considering the number of days they are present in Parliament, how much work they do, and the extent of their undisciplined behaviour; because the public sees that they are not utilizing the money they receive as salaries from public taxes.