In a bid to silence criticism on MPs’ deciding their own salaries and perks, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asking him to set up an independent commission for the purpose. The letter was followed by the submission of a report from the Joint Parliamentary Committee on salaries and allowances of MPs, which recommended a status quo. Chatterjee, while forwarding the report, however, expressed his displeasure at the present practice of MPs deciding their own salaries and allowances, official sources said. He also referred to the all-party meeting in May last year which had unanimously approved setting up of an independent commission for the purpose.
