The Nation: Parliament; Cashing in on Unanimity

They never had it so good. Party divides disappear as MPs get together to give themselves a salary hike.

This year's budget session of Parliament is certain to go down in Indian history as one of the most acrimonious ever. Yet, it had its moments of fraternity. On August 4, for instance, the Lok Sabha stood as one man. To solemnly pledge to defend India's frontiers? To decide to take on the world on the nuclear issue perhaps? Not a chance -- it was the MPs getting together to give themselves a generous pay hike.

When Madan Lal Khurana, minister for parliamentary affairs, moved the necessary amendment to the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, it was only the left parties which protested. The reaction was amazing. The outnumbered comrades were booed by the rest of the House. As a fuming Somnath Chatterjee, CPI(M) MP, put it, "We have become the butt of ridicule for giving ourselves a raise. An independent body should have done the job, based on an objective study of needs and expenses."

Chatterjee may as well have been talking to himself. For the bulk of the 545 members of the Lok Sabha and 244 of the Rajya Sabha, the latest salary increment was most welcome. It had been mooted in 1995 and several joint parliamentary committees had recommended it.

Finally, a month ago Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi spoke to Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and got the required clearance. The new pay package -- brought in with retrospective effect from April 1, 1998 -- will cost the Consolidated Fund of India Rs 15.05 crore annually. This year, there will be a burden of Rs 3.65 crore more than what had been budgeted. Anxious to keep the right people happy, the MPs also voted to raise the monthly salaries of the President (Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000), the vice-president (Rs 14,500 to Rs 40,000) and governors (Rs 11,000 to Rs 36,000).

While the average Indian may not think of his or her MP as epitomising indigence, the parliamentarians have been complaining. To quote Najma Heptullah, Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson: "People think many of us steal to make ends meet. Such has been our salary status." An indignant H. Hanumanthappa, also of the Rajya Sabha, would agree: "Do you expect to breed honesty among MPs when you pay them only Rs 1,500 a month?"

Strong words and perhaps a trifle misplaced, given the delightful perquisites of MPdom. For a start, there is the residence in Delhi, then heavily subsidised groceries. MPs have been allowed one lakh free phone calls a year. The August 4 bill raises the figure to 1.5 lakh. The number of free air journeys has gone up from 28 in a year to 32. Whereas an MP's spouse was allowed an AC II rail ticket from the constituency to Delhi and back once during each parliamentary session, now unlimited AC I journeys will be allowed. What's more, there is talk of doubling the MPs "local area development" allowance of Rs 1 crore a year.

It's been bonanza season for Lok Sabha MPs. Only a few weeks ago their quota for 160 instant LPG connections and 100 instant telephone connections a year was restored. It had been withdrawn by P.A. Sangma, then Speaker, in 1997 when it was found that some MPs were selling the connections. The Rajya Sabha had retained the quota. Now parity has been restored. Between them, the quotas and the pay hike reaffirm an old adage: entering Parliament means getting onto the ultimate gravy train.

PAY CHEQUES AND IMBALANCES

While the MPs get all the attention, the MLAs have their own story to tell. Salaries for legislators in the states have been rising steadily if differently. Here's a ready reckoner of which assemblies offer the best deals.

The most profitable companies generally pay the best salaries. Indian states follow no such logic. The best paymasters for MLAs are not necessarily the best-run states. Punjab's Government conducted an exhaustive nationwide study of MLA payscales before devising a wage package this June. The package was, as the state's finance minister had promised, comparable with the best in democracy. Here's the Indian top five: Punjab (Rs 7,500 basic monthly salary), Haryana (Rs 7,000), Karnataka (Rs 6,700), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 5,850) and Assam (Rs 5,700).

As per the Mysore Legislative Salaries Act, 1956, each time (contemporary Karnataka's) MLAs attended a meeting, they were paid Rs 16 per day for three days: day of the meeting and the days before and after. The reasoning? Long, uncomfortable journeys had to be made. Now, of course, modes of transport are better and faster. The daily allowance (DA) too has been hiked to Rs 400. Even so, crafty MLAs have stretched the DA period to five days. So an MLA works for one day and gets paid for five.

In HRD manager parlance, it's called the "golden handcuff" -- the perquisite which guarantees loyalty. MLAs know it as the vehicle loan scheme.

It varies from grand Punjab (financing for a Tata Sumo, price: Rs 3.5 lakh) to humble Orissa (Rs 38,000 to buy a motorcycle) to stingy West Bengal (ZILCH). In between come a host of states.

For instance, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh provide Rs 3 lakh apiece and Karnataka Rs 2 lakh. Tamil Nadu too is considering a car loan scheme but has deferred the plan because the state's Finance Ministry is worried MLAs may not pay back.

More on loans. In 1997, Uttar Pradesh increased the housing loan permissible to an MLA from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. Andhra Pradesh, with keyboard-friendly N. Chandrababu Naidu as chief minister, has begun a cyber-loan mela. MLAs are given a grant of Rs 54,500 and a loan of Rs 17,250 to purchase a computer. The principal sum is recovered in 17 instalments: Rs 1,000 for 16 months and Rs 1,250 in the 17th. Interest amounting to 8.5 per cent per annum is paid over the 18th and 19th months.

Strange but true. In Madhya Pradesh some MLA perks have actually declined. The 1992 pay revision fixed the DA during assembly sessions at Rs 150. This was halved in 1998. The travel allowance too was reduced from Rs 3 per km to Rs 2 per km.

Capital breeds capital; literally. Delhi's 70 MLAs get Rs 1 crore each year to spend on a project of their choice in their tiny constituencies. MLAs from the eastern bank of the Yamuna get an additional Rs 50 lakh a year from an area development agency. Delhi's MLAs also have the authority to recommend allotment of kerosene oil depots and "fair price" shops. Life's a meal ticket, old chum