NEW DELHI: Amid criticism in some quarters over the salary increase of MPs, govt has clarified that it is an adjustment for inflation in line with the 2018 policy that did away with an ad hoc increase. Several states, however, have doled out higher increases on an ad hoc basis in their legislatures.
Govt sources said the mechanism introduced in 2018 ensures a fair and transparent approach to salary revisions, preventing arbitrary increases and ensuring financial prudence.
The Finance Act, 2018, amended the Salaries, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, to link MPs’ salaries to inflation, specifically using the cost inflation index (CII) published under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The sources said before this amendment, salary revisions were conducted on an ad hoc basis and required parliamentary approval each time. The amendment aimed to “depoliticise the process and introduce a systematic mechanism for salary adjustments”, they said.
The last revision before the 2018 amendment took place in 2010, when Parliament passed a bill to increase MPs’ monthly salaries from Rs 16,000 to Rs 50,000, the sources said. This decision led to significant public criticism, as many perceived it as MPs granting themselves a three-fold pay hike.
However, some MPs, including Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav,demanded at least a five-fold rise in salaries, the sources said.
