Law for automatic revision of MPs’ salaries every five years: Arun Jaitley

Finance minister Arun Jaitley relax for a tea along with Rahul bajaj and other dignitaries at Hotel Tajmahal palace Colaba after the Jamnalal Bajaj Awards on Saturday. Express photo by Nirmal Harindran, 28th October 2017, Mumbai.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today proposed a law for an automatic revision of salaries for Parliamentarians every five years indexed to inflation. Presenting his fifth straight Budget here, Jaitley said there had been a public debate on emoluments paid to Members of Parliament, and the present practice allowing them to fix their own emoluments had invited criticism.

“I am, therefore, proposing necessary changes to refix the salary, constituency allowance, office expenses and meeting allowance payable to Members of Parliament with effect from April 1, 2018,” he said.

He added the law would also provide for automatic revision of emoluments every five years indexed to inflation and members would welcome this initiative and “not suffer such criticism in the future”.

The remuneration of an MP includes a basic salary of Rs 50,000 per month and Rs 45,000 as constituency allowance, apart from other perks. The government spends roughly Rs 2.7 lakh on every MP per month.