NEW DELHI: The Congress party finds a lot that is wrong with the BJP government's
Union Budget 2018, but one of its high-profile Parliamentarians is happy with at least one of its provisions - a salary hike for himself and his colleagues in the august House.
That Congress
MP is
Shashi Tharoor and he wrote a Facebook post explaining why a salary hike was overdue. It was addressed to "all the well-meaning people out there expressing outrage that MP salaries may be raised".
Tharoor believes "MP salaries are ridiculously inadequate". He also implied the "low salary" is why some may resort to corruption. And any criticism of the salary hike for MPs - there was plenty - he called plain "hypocritical".
Before the 64.2 percent hike, the salary for MPs was Rs 140,000 a month. In his post, Tharoor listed all that an MP is supposed to accomplish with that amount.
Here's that list in Tharoor's words:
* Maintain a residence in both Delhi and her/his constituency
* Maintain office and employ staff in both places
* Run a vehicle in both places (considering that no fuel expense is reimbursed)
* Pay electricity (free electricity up to certain units is only provided at the official residence in Delhi) and phone bills in both places (apart from the limited complementary calls)
* Offer refreshments to visitors in both places
* Maintain himself and her/his family
Tharoor asked how anyone could do all of that within Rs 140,000 a month.
"It would be hypocritical to criticize a salary increase unless you can come up with a formula for doing all that an MP is expected to do within this amount," he wrote in a Facebook post.
In his Union Budget for 2018, finance minister
Arun Jaitley raised
MPs' salaries to Rs 230,000 from Rs 140,000.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor
