Centre notifies 24 per cent salary hike, MPs to receive Rs 1.24 lakh every month

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The Centre on Monday notified a 24 per cent hike in the salaries of Members of Parliament (MPs) with effect from April 1, 2023, on the basis of the Cost Inflation Index. With the notification, the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha lawmakers will now receive Rs 1.24 lakh as salary every month, besides certain allowances and perks, news agency PTI reported.

A notification issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs also increased the daily allowances for sitting members, as well as the pension and additional pension for former members for every year of service beyond five years.

However, some parliamentarians expressed dissatisfaction with the salary increase, and called for an increase in the MP Local Area Development Fund (MPLADS), reported PTI.

"This is a normal process conducted at regular intervals. However, considering the inflation, I feel this is not enough," said Samajwadi Party MP Anand Bhadauriya.

Bharat Adivasi Party MP Raj Kumar Roat also said that while he welcomes the move to hike salaries of MPs, the members had demanded an increase in MPLADS funds.

Malvika Devi, from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also expressed satisfaction with the salary hike but stated that she would have been even happier had there been an increase in the MPLADS as well.

Daily allowance of MPs increased to Rs 2,500

The daily allowance too has been increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500, the notification said. MPs can draw daily allowances while attending Parliament sessions and meetings of parliamentary committees, PTI reported.

The pension for former members of the Parliament has been increased from Rs 25,000 per month to Rs 31,000 per month. The additional pension for every year of service in excess of five years has been increased from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 2,500 per month.

In 2018, then-finance minister Arun Jaitley had raised MPs' salaries from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The late minister had also introduced a mechanism for the automatic revision of salaries and allowances every five years, linking them to inflation. This removed the practice of MPs recommending their own salaries.

Of the Rs 1.24 lakh per month that each MP is set to receive, Rs 87,000 will comprise the constituency allowance, up from the Rs 70,000 they used to receive previously, and office expenses of Rs 75,000 (up from Rs 60,000). The office expenses of Rs 75,000 include Rs 50,000 for hiring a computer-literate person and Rs 25,000 for stationery, PTI reported.

MPs are also entitled to purchase durable furniture worth Rs 1 lakh and non-durable furniture worth Rs 25,000 during their tenure. This is an increase from the previous caps of Rs 80,000 for durable furniture and Rs 20,000 for non-durable furniture.

Apart from these allowances, they also receive accommodation ranging from a hostel at Vitthalbhai Patel House to two-bedroom flats and bungalows in central Delhi, PTI reported. The lawmakers are also reimbursed for electricity, water, telephone, and internet charges, along with 34 one-way air tickets for travel between their constituencies and the national. In addition, they enjoy benefits on rail travel.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the government had reduced the salaries of MPs and ministers by 30 per cent for one year.

The salary increase has been notified under the powers granted by the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, based on the Cost Inflation Index specified in the Income Tax Act of 1961, PTI reported.

(With PTI inputs)