NEW DELHI: With MLAs in Tamil Nadu getting a 100 per cent salary hike, Members of Parliament Wednesday demanded a salary hike, saying even their secretaries and MLAs in states are being paid better than them.
The matter was raised in Rajya Sabha by Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal. The demand was supported by senior Congress leader Anand Sharma.
Agrawal said there is no harm in MPs asking for a salary hike. “It seems as though we are begging but we are not. If the government wants to say no to salary hike, then they should openly say. MLAs in some states are getting Rs 3,00,000 as salary while our secretaries are paid more than us,” said Agrawal.
He added that MPs’ salaries be linked to the Seventh Pay Commission and they should get `1000 more than the cabinet secretary. When the Rajya Sabha chairman tried to calm him down, Agrawal threatened to sit in the Well of the House with his demand if government doesn’t reply to it.
Sharma soon joined Agrawal saying Indian MPs are the worst paid in the world and the government should follow the global practice while deciding salaries of parliamentarians.