Burden of the Un-Parliamentary Parliament

...The trigger was this news item in The Hindu on 20th February 2009.

It compelled me to find out (curiosity!!) actually how much public money is spent on the MPs of Lok Sabha?!?!

I did a bit of a research through the Right to Information Act pages on the web, and came across these facts...

Read through and feel envious that your own hard-earned money may not be available to YOU, for your own needs, but it must be paid to the Government to feed our MPs, who have taken it as their right to be overpaid and pampered with public money, despite their inefficiencies, insincerity, incompetencies, and misbehaviours.

Compiled from the official website of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs - http://mpa.nic.in/ar07-08/Areport.pdf (Annual Report 2007-2008)

STATEMENT SHOWING SALARY, ALLOWANCES AND OTHER FACILITIES
ADMISSIBLE TO THE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

Multiply the total amount with 545 (the number of MPs in Lok Sabha)

1. Salary @ Rs. 16000 p.m. = Rs. 1,92,000/- p.a.

2. Daily Allowance @ Rs. 1000 per working day = Rs. 1,83,000/- p.a. (assume 50% days of work)

3. Constituency Allowance @ Rs. 20,000/- p.m. = Rs. 2,40,000/- p.a.

4. Office Expense Allowance @ Rs. 20,000/- p.m. Let's assume it is spent entirely in office

5. Travelling Allowances = Rail : One 1st Class + One 2nd Class fare; Air : One and one-fourth air fare in any airline; Steamer : One and 3/5th of the fare for the highest class; Road : (i) Rs. 13/- per km. (ii) Min 120/- to/fro Delhi airport... (iii) TA by road... (iv) Road mileage... long list

6. Telephone = 150,000 free calls p.a. (carred forward if unutilized); Two Mobile Phones; Broadband facility for Rs.1,500 p.m.

7. Housing = Rent-free flats; Rent-free furniture upto Rs. 60,000/- for durable items and upto Rs. 15,000/- for non-durable furniture items and rental for additional item of furniture; Free washing of sofa covers & curtains every 3 months; Tiles in bathroom, kitchen as demanded by MP

8. Water and Electricity 50,000 units of electricity p.a. (carry forward if unutilized)

On retirement/resignation/death, a Member or his family allowed to consume the balance units of electricity and water for that year within one month.

How thoughtless!!! Meaning, waste it, sell it, just use it up! The nation does not need this unutilized water and electricity. Look, all our remote villages have overflowing supply of electricity and water!!

Is there an end to their benefits, I wondered.

Even when these MPs are not supposed to work 'officially', no worries. There is nothing to lose. Its a WIN-WIN anyways for them. See how...

"In case the Lok Sabha is dissolved pre-maturedly, MPs are allowed to utilize the balance of unutilized (i) free 1,50,000 telephone calls, (ii) 50,000 units of electricity, and (iii) 4,000 kls. of water during the period from dissolution of the Lok Sabha till constitution of the new Lok Sabha. In case of excess consumption, the same will be adjusted against the quota in first year when the member is elected to the new Lok Sabha.

This on one side, for the time in Parliament these MPs are paid so much 'Lagaan' for, look at the time wasted owing to their misbehaviours...

Time Lost on Adjournments due to Interruptions etc (Lok Sabha):

Total Time = 396 Hours 00 Minutes

Time lost on adjournments due to interruptions/disorderly scenes = 126 hours 52 Minutes
Percentage of time on adjournment etc. due to the above = 32.03%
This percentage in Rajya Sabha during same period = 39.86%

About one third of OUR hard-earned money that is directed towards these MPs, goes straight down the drain, sorry, sewer.

How disrespectful to our hard work, to our honest tax-paying, which is to be used for public and society welfare, but being used for making the useless MPs lead kingly lives!

Head turner

My head turns to see "What am I leaving behind?"

I often ask myself this one question, in a number of situations, in the physical and philosophical sense. It is not so much as a conscious, cognitive question, but a principle that works in the back of my head - The object I just used, the place I just visited, the group of people I just spoke with, the society I am a part of, the world I am living in and consuming, the humanity that I belong to... what am i leaving behind?

(B)Rightly Lit?

Last night, driving through a fancy part of South Delhi, my eyes were dazzle-drawn by a state-of-the-art, brighly-lit bus stop. Hmm, looks impressive! was my instant thought that lasted just few seconds.

The part that caught my unfavourable attention were the metal frames there, that were probably the slots meant for back-lit ads. Each such metal frame was 'ready' with five or six full-length tubelights, all glowing to catch attention of prospective customer. Like a beautiful girl standing on the roadside, grinning wide at the passersby, to catch their attention and prospective business. I'd prefer to see the second scene, since it costs no precious electricity.

Let's get environment friendly - do they really mean it , when the government campaigns for saving energy, appealing to public at large to adopt ways at home, but cannot think how they themselves could walk the talk.

Several times, I have been to big hotels where thousands of conventional bulbs (the old fashioned ones) glow day and night. There is no body to lay down obvious rules or inspect them on such simple measures to save energy, which is a national resource too.

Just that somebody can afford it, is no reason to over-consume it!