A day before the start of the budget session of Parliament, Varun Gandhi, BJP MP, urged Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to “initiate a mission” to get Lok Sabha members to forgo salaries for the rest of this term or set up an autonomous body to regulate their salaries. At present, MPs and MLAs can legislate on their own remuneration.
In his letter, Mr. Gandhi voiced worries over the growing income disparities in the country and underscored the need for the elected representatives to address the issue. “India’s richest 1%, who now hold 60% of the country’s total wealth, held less than 21% in the late 1930s, 84 billionaires hold wealth equal to the bottom 70% of the country,” he said.
Instead of doing something to bridge the gap, the lawmakers were getting their salaries increased, he added. “In 2016, the Telangana MLAs became the highest-paid lawmakers in the country when they gave themselves a hike of 163% in their salaries,” he wrote. “In January 2018, while Tamil Nadu is still reeling under a long-standing agrarian crisis that started in 2017, the Assembly doubled the salary of the MLAs with effect from July 2017,” he said. The number of MPs who own assets worth over ₹1 crore has seen a sharp rise from 319 in 2009 to 449 now, he said.
