The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a Bill which will reduce the salaries, allowances and pensions of Members of Parliament by 30% for one year. The Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which was introduced on Monday, sailed through the lower house on Tuesday. It was bound to happen as the Modi government had cleared the Ordinance which was brought on April 6 and promulgated the very next day. This deci- sion was taken during the lockdown due to a need to cut expenses so that relief and assistance work can be done to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, while speaking on the Bill, thanked political parties for supporting the bill and praised MPs for becoming role models by stepping forward to help at the time of the pandemic. Joshi also mentioned that the Central government has come out with a stimulus of Rs 20 lakh crore for assistance during this period.
Though all political parties supported the Bill, certain Opposition leaders like NCP’s Supriya Sule, TMC’s Saugata Roy, BSP’s Muluk Nagar and Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary also demanded that the government release the MPLAD funds, which had been stopped due to the pandemic, so that development work can be carried out in Members’ constituencies.