MPs who want a raise now ..Is this right time??

 
MPs are often criticized for their less-than-impressive attendance in Parliament, but today, few could be faulted for skipping work.
They came together to back Lalu Prasad Yadav who passionately urged the government to sanction the 300 percent hike in salaries that MPs have been eyeing. "What is our wage...it is less than that of a junior clerk's," said Lalu, chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
On Monday, divisions in the Cabinet led to the government allegedly deferring the issue to the winter session of Parliament. Ministers like P Chidambaram and Ambika Soni feel that the multiple allegations of corruption surrounding the Commonwealth Games, as well as the recent increase in fuel prices, make a raise inappropriate at this time.
MPs currently earn Rs. 16,000 a month; they require to be paid Rs. 50,000 a month. Compare this, they plead, to a secretary to the government who makes Rs. 80,000 a month.


Senior BJP leader LK Advani asked his party's MPs not to join a public debate on the issue - advice that wasn't heeded.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tried to report, "This has to be done through a legislation. A bill has to be brought to adjust the Salaries And Allowances Of Member Of Parliament Act, 1954... They are trying bring the legislation in this session."
Lalu didn't miss a beat. "We are prepared. Bring the Bill tomorrow, they will pass it in one minutes," they said, prompting a smirk from Mukherjee.
The Left parties called for an independent mechanism to select hikes like this one. Lalu retorted, "Let us take the hike....and you take the elderly wage."

The issue of hike in wage & allowances of MPs figured in the Rajya Sabha today with members desirous to know by when the government proposed to increase their wages.
Defending their demand, a member said cost rise pinches them .
Rajniti Prasad of the RJD raised the issue when the House met for the day & instantly found support from members in the opposition benches.
"What has happened to the proposal to increase MPs' wage, they would like to know," they said citing media reports that the Cabinet on Monday deferred a call on the issue.

Chairman Hamid Ansari said only questions can be taken up in the coursework of the Query Hour but members were inexorable.
But interestingly, senior BJP leader LK Advani has now asked his party MPs not to indulge in an open debate on MPs' wage. They advised the MPs to wait for the government to come up with a proposal.
"We are public servants but what is our wage? It is lower than the junior clerk & they work round the clock for three years. They are the representatives of the public. I don't query Pranab Babu's purpose that there's corrupt MP's but they ought to have a glance at our pay. This is an insult. The wage of an MLA in Goa is Rs. 1 lakh," RJD president Lalu Yadav said.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the matter was under consideration of the government.
"The document of the Joint Committee on wage & allowances of Members of Parliament has been received by the government. It is under consideration," they said without giving a timeframe by when it would be implemented.
"The document will be made effective from beginning of 15th Lok Sabha. Whenever the bill is passed, it will have retrospective effect," they said.
Mukherjee's reply did not satisfy members who insisted on knowing by when it will be implemented & why Cabinet deliberations were being selectively leaked to media.