'Price hike, devaluation of rupee': Draft bill proposes massive raise in salaries of lawmakers

ISLAMABAD: Some members of the parliament have submitted a draft bill in the Senate Secretariat to increase the salary of the Senate chairman, the deputy chairman, the National Assembly speaker, and the deputy speaker, by up to 400 per cent, reported The News on Saturday. 

The bill also includes a proposal to raise the salary of the members of the National Assembly by 100 per cent, besides seeking an upward revision in the traveling allowance for all lawmakers and their families. The raise has been proposed in light of "price hike and devaluation of the rupee". 

The inflation, according to the statement of objects and reasons outlined in the bill, has affected the Senate chairman, the NA speaker, the Senate deputy chairman, and the NA deputy speaker, are all members of the parliament “alongside the general public”.

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How much will lawmakers make if bill is passed?

A copy of the bill, which the Senate Secretariat has already referred to the ministries of parliamentary affairs and finance for their input, seeks amendment to Chairman and Speaker (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) Act 1975 to increase the existing salary of Senate chairman and NA speaker from Rs250,000 to 870,000, which is equivalent to basic pay of a judge of the Supreme Court.

The bill also recommends an amendment to the Deputy Chairman and Deputy Speaker (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) Act 1975 to increase the salary of the Senate Deputy Chairman and NA Deputy Speaker from existing Rs185,000 to Rs829,000, which is equivalent to basic pay of the judge of the Islamabad High Court.

The draft bill also recommends an amendment to the Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) Act 1974 to increase the salaries of Senators and MNAs from the existing Rs150,000 to Rs300,000.

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Proposed changes to other perks enjoyed by MPs

Additionally, the draft amendment to the existing statutes seeks to allow each MP the entitlement to 20 business class open return air tickets from the airport nearest to their constituency to Islamabad. The bill says that the spouse and children - up to 18 years of age of the Senator/MNA - can also utilise these tickets for traveling within the country.

The bill also includes the provision that the traveling allowance allowed to lawmakers in respect of a journey between two stations shall be admissible on the basis of the shortest of the practicable routes between those stations. 

It adds that, "a member who performs a journey between the place where a session or meeting of a committee is held or other business connected with his duties as a member is transacted and a place which is not his usual place of residence may draw travelling allowance for a journey between the place where the session or meeting is held or other business is transacted and his usual place of residence".

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Who will table the bill?

According to a letter penned by the Senate Secretariat to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs on 28th January, Senators Naseebullah Bazai (independent member from Balochistan), Sajjad Hussain Turi (independent from erstwhile Fata), Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan Nasir (PML-N), Dilawar Khan (independent, KP), Dr Ashok Kumar (National Party, Balochistan) and Shammim Afridi (independent, erstwhile Fata) "have given notice of their intention to introduce the subject cited in the bill in the Senate". 

The statement of objects and reasons, as mentioned in the bill, states that it has been felt that no substantial increase in the salaries of parliamentarians has been made so far. Resultantly, the salaries drawn by Chairman or Speaker, Deputy Chairman or Deputy Speaker and MNAs and Senators are not sufficient to meet their daily expenditures. 

Committee recommends salary raise for government employees

The Secretaries Committee, which is the highest forum for bureaucrats, has asked the government to give employees from Grade 1 to 22 of the Federal Secretariat a 120 per cent raise in salary, reported The News on Saturday.

The publication also reported that the panel has recommended an increase in the executive allowance for federal secretaries and additional secretaries that may be deputed to other divisions and ministries from January 1 of this year.

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According to the publication, the recommendations were made in a committee meeting held on January 23 of last month. The committee has also asked the Finance Division to process cases in this regard.

During the meeting, Additional Secretary Finance Sohail Rajpoot briefed the committee regarding the salary differences of provincial and federal secretariats as the finance secretary could not attend the meeting, said the newspaper. 

The official informed the committee that the finance division has completed its homework regarding the matter and said that it is considering a 120 per cent raise for employees from grades 1 till 22.

Originally published in The News