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Cabinet
clears salary hike of MPs
The Union Cabinet on
Friday approved a bill to hike MPs’ salary from current Rs 16,000 to
Rs 50,000.
The decision comes few days after the Union Cabinet deferred its
decision on the proposed
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New Delhi:
Hours after the Union Cabinet cleared a 300 per cent salary hike,
from Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 50,000, for members of Parliament and doubled
their perks on Friday, they appeared to be a dissatisfied lot and
stalled the Lok Sabha proceedings thrice during the day, demanding
more money.
The Cabinet on Friday had approved the Bill seeking a three-fold
increase in the basic salary of MPs, it fell short of Rs. 80,001
recommended by a joint parliamentary committee which stated that an
MP should get at least Re. 1 more than the top Central government
bureaucrats.
This was enough to trigger an uproar and protests in the House by
members of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party (SP),
Akali Dal, Janata Dal (United), Shiv Sena and Bahujan Samaj Party.
The loud protest was led by RJD chief Lalu Prasad and SP president
Mulayam Singh, who termed the hike as “minimal,” and demanded that
the proposed increase by the Cabinet be taken back and
recommendations of the parliamentary panel be implemented. They
barged into the well of the House, raising slogans. Mr. Prasad
charged the government with “insulting the MPs with minimal raise.”
Initially, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar pleaded with the protesting
MPs to let the Question Hour proceed and asked them to raise the
issue during Zero Hour, but adjourned the House till 12 noon when
they did not heed to her request. The scene was no different when
the Lok Sabha reassembled, forcing another adjournment till 2 p.m.
When the House met for the post-lunch session, Deputy Speaker Karia
Munda was in the Chair and the protestors once again trooped inside
the well. However, He continued with the legislative business, and
the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2010, moved by Health
and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, was passed in the din
without any discussion. Mr. Munda then adjourned the House for the
day.
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