Pension reform, this time for MPs, too

The Govenment plans to dole out pension for former Members of Parliament who do not qualify for the superannuation benefit by relaxing the e...

The Govenment plans to dole out pension for former Members of Parliament who do not qualify for the superannuation benefit by relaxing the eligibility norm.

In a proposal to be placed before the Cabinet tomorrow, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is recommending an amendment in the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act of 1954 to allow a minimum monthly pension of Rs 3,000 to all MPs who sat in Lok Sabha for nine months.

Under existing law, former MPs of either House are entitled to a pension only if they have served a minimum of four years. Each year added after five years gets an additional Rs 600 every month as pension.

This is the third revision in pension. In September 2001, the Act was amended to raise the pension limit to Rs 3,000 per month from Rs 2,500 per month and a year later it was changed to raise the pension for those who had served the Lok Sabha twice but had not completed four years.

Sources said that the proposed revision would entail an additional outgo of Rs 7 crore per annum from the Consolidated Fund of India with the number of additional beneficiaries more than 1,400 members.

The beneficiaries are mostly from non-Congress parties, especially BJP and those who are or were aligned to it. A rundown shows that those who atand to gain would be the short-duration governments of:

8226; BJP which ruled for 13 months during March 1998-April 1999

8226; United Front where the 11th Lok Sabha continued for 2 years and 10 months from May 1996 to March 1998.

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8226; Janata Dal government of VP Singh and Chandrashekhar from December 1989 to June 1991

8226; Janata Party rule of Morarji Desai and Charan Singh from March 1977 to January 1980.

Another amendment proposed in the Act is to allow MPs to use private airlines within the 32 single flights permitted each year. As of today, they can fly only on the state carrier Indian Airlines.

The MPs will also be allowed to use mobile phones of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagar Nigam Telephone Limited but the usage would have to be within the 1.5 lakh free calls allowed each year.