Lalu seeks pay hike, will protest otherwise

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has threatened to lead a protest in support of the hiking of salaries and additional benefits of Members of Parliament.
 
The Union Cabinet had deferred the decision on the proposed three-fold salary hike because there was no consensus.

On Monday, Lalu Prasad slammed opponents of the raise as 'crorepatis' who were not aware of the ordinary Member of Parliament's plight.

The proposal, pending since May 2006, seeks to hike MPs' salaries from Rs 16,000 to Rs 50,000. The bill also proposes a hike in their Dearness Allowance from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000.

MPs currently get Rs 16,000 per month as salary, while a secretary to the government gets Rs 80,000 a month. The recommendation to hike the salary was made taking into account the consumer price index and the wage index for skilled urban labour.

Apart from the base salary, an MP gets a daily allowance of Rs 1,000 for each day when Parliament is in session or a sitting of a house committee is scheduled. A member is entitled for constituency allowance of Rs 20,000 per month and office expense allowance of another Rs 20,000 per month.

Every MP can avail 34 single air journeys during a year with spouse or any number of companions or relatives. The last hike in salaries and allowances of 795 MPs -- 545 members of Lok Sabha and 250 members of Rajya Sabha -- came into effect about 10 years ago.