The Rajya Sabha on Friday passed bill to reduce salaries of MPs and ministers by 30 per cent for one year in order to "meet the exigencies arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic".
The Salary, Allowances, and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday and was passed on Tuesday. The new bill will replace the Salary, Allowances, And Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.
The Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which will reduce salaries of ministers, including Prime Minister, was also moved in the Upper House today.
The two bills -- the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020 -- were earlier taken up together for discussion.
They were moved separately by two ministers -- Minister of State (MoS) for Home G Kishan Reddy and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi.
Later, the upper house passed both the laws, which propose to reduce the salaries and allowances of ministers by 30 per cent for a year.
Both the bills were passed by voice vote.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said it was credit-worthy that MPs were willing to take a salary cut even though a majority of them were solely dependent on their pay.
With these bills, the salaries of MPs will be reduced by 30 per cent from Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 70,000 for one year.