NL Correspondent
New Delhi, Apr 06: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all Union ministers along with over 750 Members of Parliament (MPs) will take a 30 per cent salary cut for one year and the amount will be used to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Union minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Tuesday. The President, the Vice President, governors of states have also voluntarily decided to take a pay cut as a social responsibility, the minister added. The Union Cabinet on Monday gave its nod to an ordinance amending the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 reducing allowances and pension by 30 per cent from April 1 2020 for a year, he told reporters. He said besides the MPs, the Prime minister and Union minister's would also take a 30 per cent cut in their salaries.”Charity begins at home,” he said. The salary structure for the PM and the Union ministers is different from that of an MP, who draws a salary of Rs one lakh per month and a constituency allowance of Rs 70,000 per month, besides other allowances. Later, the government spokesperson clarified that only the salary and not the pension and allowances of the MPs will be cut. The money will go to the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI), he said. All the revenue received by the government by way of taxes like income tax, central excise, customs and other receipts flowing to the government are credited into the CFI. All government expenditure is incurred from this fund and no amount can be withdrawn from the CFI without authorization from Parliament. The Cabinet also approved temporary suspension of the MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) fund scheme during financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22, and the amount will be used for “managing health and adverse impact of outbreak of COVID19″ in the country, he said. While there are 543 MPs in Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha has 245 members –788 in all. Each MP gets Rs 5 crore per annum as MPLAD. It means, the government will get nearly Rs 7880 crore from the fund. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Union Cabinet's approval for reduction of allowances and pension of all MPs by 30 per cent, and said the Parliament of the world's largest democracy stands together in these challenging times. The home minister also thanked President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and State Governors for voluntarily deciding not to take 30 per cent of their allowances for one year.”I congratulate PM @narendramodi ji, as cabinet approves the Ordinance for reducing allowances and pension of all MPs by 30% for a year,” he tweeted.
Shah said the Modi cabinet has also approved the temporary suspension of MPLAD fund for two years and the fund will go to the Consolidated Fund of India.”The Parliament of the world's largest democracy stands together in these challenging times. I thank all the parties and MPs for their support.
- LG to donate his 30 percent salary
JAMMU Tawi, APR 06
Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu has announced to donate 30 % of his salary for the next 1 year towards the fight against the spread of COVID-19.The Lt Governor observed that collective effort is imperative to fight the dreaded virus, and as a citizen, it is our responsibility to contribute our bit to combat the emerging situation. With an aim to contribute towards the steps being taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the country, I shall, out of my own volition, be contributing 30% of my monthly salary for a period of one year towards the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, he said.
