Several ministers demanded the restoration of funds from the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Plan (MPLADS) even as two laws were passed in Rajya Sabha on Friday to reduce the salary and allowances of Union ministers and members of Parliament (MP).
Parliament Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi introduced the bill to amend the Members of Parliament Salaries, Benefits and Pension Act of 1954, while Household Minister G Kishan Reddy introduced the bill Ministers’ Salaries and Benefits Act (Amendment) 2020.
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Both bills aim to reduce the salaries and emoluments of ministers and deputies in view of the scarcity of resources due to Covid-19, and were approved with a voice vote.
Earlier, several members of Parliament questioned the government’s decision to phase out MPLADS funds for two years, saying it was funds spent on the needs of the people, especially for local demands that would otherwise be ignored.
The leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad (Cong) said that it was credible that the members of Parliament were willing to accept a pay cut even though most of them depended solely on their salary.
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However, he added that MPLADS was a fund that belonged to the people. If the MPLADS had to be cut, it could have been for less than two years, Azad said. “I would request that … (MPLADS) be removed for only one year, and that also only half, and the rest should be handed over to parliamentarians,” Azad said.
Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD) said the central view project seemed like a luxury at this time of severe resource shortage, adding that the looming new parliament building should be suspended, as should the government’s advertising spending.
YSRCP member V Vijaisai Reddy had another suggestion: cut salaries and penalize members who disrupt the House.
Joshi said that funding from MPLADS or the central view was not within the scope of the bill.
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