Notional perks

Ever so often the salaries and perks given to our MPs suddenly come under scrutiny. The usual sensationalism forces the media to abandon fac...

Ever so often the salaries and perks given to our MPs suddenly come under scrutiny. The usual sensationalism forces the media to abandon fact-finding and instead raise a hue-and-cry over notional perks.

While protocol ranks an MP higher than Secretaries of the government of India, yet his salary at Rs 12,000/- is less than what a clerk in a government department earns. The situation is worse for retired MPs who are forced to survive on a meager pension of Rs 3000 per month, barely equal to a peon8217;s pension. Even this is stopped 5 years after retirement. An ex-MP cannot seek re-employment. Retired MPs who have no business of their own or are not professionals often find it difficult to run their households after retirement from Parliament.

I remember an ex-Minister, who is incidentally a governor today, came to me four years ago because of his deep financial trouble. He wanted a job in the private sector. However, the chairman of a large private enterprise who I spoke to about him didn8217;t waste any time in refusing him the job, wondering how he could ask a former Union Minister to work under his babus, and worse, how he could expect him to chase his work with Joint Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries in the government.

Even sitting MPs find themselves out of work once the Parliament session is over, because their hands are tied down by an 8216;Office of Profit8217; clause. Earlier MPs used to work in corporations or government departments, but now this clause expressly denies any such nomination or deputation to them. It is ridiculous to think that while a bureaucrat can seek nominations to and manage 10 different organisations, a legislator is made to leave all his jobs and occupations and forced to cool his heels at home till the time he remains an MP.

While nobody can deny exceptions, the widely-held notion of all politicians being dishonest is utterly false. N G Ranga was an MP for 10 terms and all these years he walked down to Parliament, because he could not afford a vehicle. Madhu Limaye was another MP for decades, and yet he used to plead with newspaper editors to send him his cheques in time for columns written, for his livelihood depended entirely on his writing. Even after becoming a finance minister, Manmohan Singh drove his own Maruti 800. What the country needs is a basic level of faith in its MPs. Parliament is not an exclusive club whose membership automatically ensures riches for its members.

Collective responsibility

The dreams of Mumbai becoming another Shanghai were washed away in a single day of excessive rainfall. I was among those who witnessed the deluge on that Tuesday, and had to wade through 8 km spending hours in deep muddy waters to reach my guesthouse. What a collapsing infrastructure made to look like a true natural calamity was in reality far short of one. One shudders to think what would happen if, god forbid, a tsunami or an earthquake struck Mumbai. The rains will disappear in a week or so and then everything will be forgotten and life will carry on.

When the authorities proudly proclaim the civic infrastructure is 150 years old, they are being foolish to ignore how much the city itself has changed in those years. Every day dozens of trains bring hundreds of new inhabitants to the city while the land mass of the island city remains severely limited. Infrastructure designed for 100 people is used and abused by 10,000. Someday somewhere, it all had to give in.

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From being the city of dreams, Mumbai today has deteriorated to become a huge national problem. It is high time everyone came together to save the city. From centre to state government, municipality to bureaucracy, from residential societies to NGOs, from prominent leaders to the average Mumbaikar, everyone has to come forward and play a role in saving the city. Government and industry can take the lead by shifting offices to places like Thane and Navi Mumbai.

Coming closer

The landmark Indo-US joint statement of last month has been one of the greatest accomplishments of India8217;s foreign policy in recent times. Though cynics will pick upon ambiguities, especially in clauses referring to nuclear cooperation, the facts clearly show that both countries have recognised that their interests are synergistic.

Today, the US wants India as a strong trading partner to keep its giant economy afloat, while India has much to gain for its energy security after the US clearly expressed its willingness to meet Indian requirements in nuclear power generation.

Inadequate power is a huge gap in our infrastructure and half of our country8217;s problems will be solved the day we are able to produce enough power for our demands. Manmohan Singh has scored an enormous victory for our country8217;s energy security and all of us must rise above petty politics to congratulate him for keeping our national interests on a firm footing.

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The writer is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha. Email: shuklarajeevgmail.com