Sanjrani rubbishes claims of raise in salary, perks

• Sanjrani defends controversial bill passed by Senate. 
• Bill proposes govt to bear travel expenses of domestic staff, family. 
• He regrets lawmakers backtracking position in face of media hype. 

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has rubbished the claims of a raise in his salary, perks, and privileges, saying that not a single rupee has been increased in any of it.

Talking to a private TV channel, Sanjrani challenged the critics to prove if he had sought even a single rupee raise in his salary, according to The News.

The Senate chairman also regretted that the parliamentarians backtracked on their position in the face of media hype on any issue.

The remarks came in response to a question about a controversial bill, passed by the Senate, which proposes lifetime full security detail of at least 10 persons to all the former Senate chairmen.

Under the bill, the government is also proposed to bear the travel expenses of the domestic staff and their family members. However, the approval of the proposal is pending with the National Assembly.

Defending the bill, Sanjrani said that the law was meant to put things in order and address audit issues. He claimed that the perks and privileges proposed in the bill would not put any additional burden on the national exchequer.

Moreover, the Senate chairman said that he had never claimed any travel allowances or daily allowances, saying that he and his wife personally bore the expenses of their household. 

He said he was ready for accountability, and an audit should be ordered. He said if any wrongdoing was proven on his part in the audit, he would step down as the Senate chairman.

Sanjrani said the Senate chairman enjoyed a prestigious position, and if the country’s situation improves, the head of the upper house of parliament should be entitled to 10 planes instead of just one.

It was suggested that the Senate chairman was purchasing a plane, he said, adding that he firmly believed that when Pakistan achieves prosperity and effectively addresses people’s issues, then the chairman should get 10 planes instead of just one.

He emphasised that people’s representatives should be given all perks so that they could work more dedicatedly. Giving them no perks and privileges was like forcing them to indulge in wrongdoings. There are several senators who relied only on their salaries.

However, the Public Accounts Committee and the PPP leadership criticised the proposed law, arguing that it would burden an already troubled economy.

Saleem Mandviwala, former deputy chairman and Chief Whip of PPP in the Senate, says that the leadership of his party was very upset over the passing of the bill in the Senate.

Talking to BBC Urdu, he said after the bill was passed by the Senate, PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari called him and scolded him on how he passed the bill to increase the privileges of chairman Senate.

According to Saleem Mandviwala, he told the former president that since he was looking after the budget matters, he could not pay attention to it. He said even his party members did not take him into confidence in getting the bill passed.

It should be noted that two former Senate chairmen, Raza Rabbani and Farooq H Naek, were involved in presenting the bill and getting it passed. Both belong to the PPP.

Mandviwala said the country was in a difficult situation and the government had no money to help the flood victims, while on the other hand, bills enhancing perks and privileges of the Senate chairmen and members were being approved.