It was in the early eighties. The Lok Sabha had just about begun its session for the day, when the majority of the MPs, cutting across party lines, urged the Speaker to hear their urgent appeal for an increase in salaries and allowances. There was, however, one exception in A. Roy, the MP from Burdwan.

Roy put a damper on his colleagues’ pleas, arguing that there was no justification for the hikes ,considering the plight of the country’s poor. Even as several MPs tried to drown his protests, the House was adjourned for a brief spell, with the Speaker pressing for unanimity on the issue.

As the Lok Sabha reassembled, the MPs favouring the hike raised their voices again. In unison. But surprisingly, Roy was absent. Considering the visible consensus , the government agreed to examine the proposal , much to the joy of the excited members.

That is, till the Burdwan MP, who was delayed for some inexplicable reason, entered Parliament. His vehement protests went in vain ,forcing the fuming politician to leave the House ,if only to mark his dissent.

Since then, the perks and salaries of the honourable MPs have been revised repeatedly which explains the hike announced last month ,as well.

For the record, the current salary shoots up to Rs 1. 24 lakh , against Rs 1 lakh earlier. With perks and allied allowances, an average Parliamentarian will get an annual benefit of Rs about 30.48 lakh, according to India Today.

The hike covers the daily allowance for attending Parliament, and the increase in pension. Then there are other benefits including free medical facilities for self and family,Rs 50,000 odd unit of free electricity,reimbursement for phone and internet .Above all,the lawmaker can claim refund for air and train travel.

Notably, in 2018, the then Union finance minister ,Arun Jaitley, increased the salaries of MPs from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. He also introduced a mechanism for automatic revision of salaries and allowances,every five years, by indexing it to inflation.

In the process, he sought to do away with the system where MPs made recommendations for fixing their benefits.. This was a practice which witnessed a full House, in the past ,whenever the subject was raised ; even if the lawmakers could not attend discussions on other important issues.

Ironically, these increases are not confined to the MPs as the MLAs too are not far behind.

In this context, a survey conducted by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an election watchdog ,comes as an eye opener as it details the assets of the MPs who were elected to Parliament in 2024.

The ADR revealed that “ 93 per cent of the newly elected MPs are crorepatis.” In other words, 504 of the 543 lawmakers are billionaires, indicating a rapid increase in the number of super-wealthy politicians entering Parliament.

In other words, the percentage of rich candidates winning the Lok Sabha Elections in 2024 increased to 93 against 88 in 2019 and 82 in the 2014 polls. Clearly, the time has come for the citizens to question whether their lawmakers really deserve an increase in their remuneration. Perhaps ,they could consider some soul searching!.

Especially,considering that , as per the ADR , the BJP , Congress, TDP and the JDU account for a sizable number of billionaires in Parliament.

This is not all. In the last few years, disruptions in Parliament have become the norm with both the ruling party and the opposition sticking to their guns. Not surprisingly, very little business was transacted during this period.

Here it is worth noting that it costs the exchequer Rs 2.5 lakh every minute to run Parliament. According to the Economic Times, in 2024 , the legislature barely functioned during the winter session as the treasury and opposition benches witnessed a deadlock over the Gautam Adani and George Soros issues. Further, in 2021 alone distractions in Parliament cost the government an estimated loss of Rs 131 crores.

Significantly, our MLAs are equally fast to grant themselves huge increases in pay and perks. A case in point being Karnataka whose legislators gave themselves a 100 per cent increase,last month, without batting an eyelid!

Incidentally, chief minister, Siddaramaiah, and his colleagues, have repeatedly slammed the central government for its “step motherly” treatment of the state when it comes to sharing tax revenues. Never mind the fact that the ruling Congress has ended up spending over Rs 60,000 crores , annually, to fund the freebies that it promised to lure voters during the 2023 assembly polls.

Faced with this unplanned outgo, the Siddaramaiah government has done what comes naturally to it. It began hiking the prices of virtually every consumable and facility that caught its fancy--- be it power, bus fares, milk and fuel, not to speak of waste management and garbage cess . Added to these are the increase in property tax and parking facilities in apartments.

In short, the government did not think twice before targeting the common man, ostensibly to fund its guarantees. No wonder then that the internet was abuzz with comments like “you name the facility and product and the government has found a way to tax it.”

All this, when the average citizen continues to suffer from pollution, poor infrastructure , unbelievable traffic jams, long hours on the roads and the inevitable corruption that has become a synonym for the Siddaramaiah government. In fact, the state revenue minister, Krishna Byre Gowda, had no remorse in admitting that corruption was indeed prevalent in his department, the rider being that it was only at the lower level.

The unkindest cut, however, came with the state ministers justifying the increase in their “pay and perks” maintaining that these were inevitable as “ the burden of inflation was affecting them as well.” The state Home Minister ,G.Parameshwara , twisted the knife further in the hapless citizens’ wound, while stating that “ Everyone has to survive.”

Ironically, Karnataka has some of the richest legislators in the country. According to the ADR, 97 per cent of its lawmakers are crorepatis. And yet, they merrily give themselves huge hikes in salaries and allowances!!.

To start with, the salaries and perks of the CM, ministers, and members of both Houses have been doubled, leading to a hefty revision that will tax the exchequer further. This comes amid an acute shortage of funds for infrastructure development .

In other words, Siddaramaiah's salary will double from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh per month, while ministers will see an increase of 108 per cent : from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh. The Speaker and legislative council chairman will now earn Rs 1.25 lakh per month, up from Rs 75,000. The MLAs and MLCs will also receive a 100 per cent hike in salary : from Rs 40,000 to Rs 80,000 per month. Pensions, too , will double to Rs 75,000. Not to forget the rise in other allowances.

Meanwhile, Karnataka tops the list with 31 billionaire legislators, with the deputy chief minister D.K.Shivakumar boasting of assets worth Rs 1,413 crores. The state also tops the list with the total assets of its law makers standing at over Rs 14,000 crores. Majority of the wealthy MLAs, interestingly, are from the Congress.

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