New Delhi:
The Union cabinet on Monday approved an ordinance to reduce the salaries, allowances and pensions of Members of Parliament (MPs) by 30 per cent for one year and the amount will be utilised in the fight against coronavirus.
The President, Vice President, governors of states have also voluntarily decided to take a pay cut as a social responsibility, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said.
Briefing reporters, the minister said the cabinet approved an ordinance amending the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 reducing allowances and pension by 30 per cent from April 1 2020 for one year.
The money will go to Consolidated Fund of India, he added. The Cabinet also approved temporary suspension of MPLAD (Member of Parliament local Area Development) fundscheme during 2020-21 and 2021-22, and the funds will be used for managing health services and the adverse impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, he said.
It is worth mentioning that Devendra Kumar Gupta, the founder of Ladli Foundation Trust, was first to suggest the Centre that the MPLAD should be suspended and the funds should be directly utilized for India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s his tweet suggesting the same on March 24, 2020:
#MP_MLA #Local Area Development Fund Should be directly use for #COVID19 and Citizens Welfare. Rather then Giving to #MP & #MLAs, It is now more important to Save the People from this #Penademic Rather than Local Developments.@PMOIndia @narendramodi @ArvindKejriwal @NITIAayog
— Devendra Kr. Gupta (@LaadliDevendra) March 24, 2020
Devendra, soon after the announcement, thanked PM Narendra Modi for considering his suggestion:
Thanks Sh. @narendramodi for Considering My Suggestion to #Suspend #MPLAD Fund for Using #Covid19 Now it is Time to State Govts to Take the Same Decision related to #MLA #LAD Fund. @ArvindKejriwal@myogiadityanath
Thnx @PMOIndia & @NitiAyog pic.twitter.com/6aIkmSKLEd— Devendra Kr. Gupta (@LaadliDevendra) April 6, 2020
However, the Congress has welcomed the government’s decision to cut MPs’ salaries to fight the battle against coronavirus, but said suspending MPLADs will undermine the role of an MP and called for its review.
“Dear PM, INC supports the salary cut for MPs. Please note that MPLAD is meant to execute developmental works in the constituency. Suspending it is a huge disservice to the constituents and will undermine the role and functions of MP,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel welcomed the decision but suggested cutting down on non-COVID-19 publicity costs to enable the central government to save money.
“As a Member of Parliament, I welcome the government’s decision to cut salaries of MPs. In this difficult time, this is the least we can do to help fellow citizens,” Patel said on Twitter.
“Apart from cutting salaries of MPs and ministers, the central government can save more than Rs 20,000 crore by scrapping the central vista redevelopment project & cutting down on non-COVID-19 publicity expenses,” he also said.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said suspending the MPLADS is an overstretch and needs to be restored, saying a knee jerk reaction much like the lockdown will hurt poor the most.
“Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi – As an MP who represents a predominately rural constituency I fully support the 30 pc cut in my salary. However the suspension of MPLADS is a bit of an overstretch,” he said.
Tewari said at this time of grave humanitarian distress that will get only worse in the months ahead.
He noted that MPLADS is a targeted and nimble instrument to customise micro level interventions to alleviate distress.
“I think MPLAD Funds need to be restored. Please re-think it once again. It is a knee jerk reaction much like the lockdown at a 4-hour notice. It will hurt poor most,” the Congress MP from Punjab said.
Another Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the Centre’s decision to cut salaries and pensions of MPs is welcome.
“It’s a good way for us to show solidarity with people suffering across the country. But the ordinance ending MPLADS funds for two years and pooling them into a consolidated fund run by the central government is problematic,” he said.
Tharoor said MPLADS is the only means for an MP to direct development resources to his constituency. An order to earmark all MPLAD spending for COVID-19 related measures would have been okay. “I used mine to get urgently-needed rapid test kits and PPE to Thiruvananthapuram’s health workers,” he tweeted.
Citing examples of disproportionate relief, he said the Centre has allocated Rs 157 crore of Disaster Response Mitigation Funds to Kerala, which has 314 COVID19 cases, while Gujarat, with only 122 cases, gets Rs 662 crore.
“Will this kind of imbalance also affect the reallocation of MPLADS funds,” he asked.
“In order to avoid such injustice, it’s essential that MPLADS money continues to be spent constituency-wise. I urge the government to revise this decision by allowing MPs to earmark these funds for COVID-19 related expenditure to meet local needs and benefit the vulnerable. It’s their job,” Tharoor said in another tweet.
The union cabinet in its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved an ordinance to bring a 30 per cent cut in salaries and pensions of MPs for a year starting April 1.
The money will go to the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI), Union minister Prakash Javadekar had said.
All the revenue received by the government by way of taxes like income tax, central excise, customs and other receipts flowing to the government are credited into the CFI. All government expenditure is incurred from this fund and no amount can be withdrawn from the CFI without authorization from Parliament.
The Cabinet also approved temporary suspension of the MPLAD (Member of Parliament local Area Development) fund scheme during financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22, and the amount will be used for managing health and adverse impact of outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, he had said.
