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Lawmakers’ pay, perks, pension need rationalisation: Parminder Dhindsa
Former Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa on Tuesday demanded a constitutional commission on the pattern of a pay commission to decide pay, perks and pensions for the current and former MLAs and MPs, accepting that these are exorbitantly high and need a rationalisation
Former Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa on Tuesday demanded a constitutional commission on the pattern of a pay commission to decide pay, perks and pensions for the current and former MLAs and MPs, accepting that these are exorbitantly high and need a rationalisation.
He questioned the present system to renew the pay and pensions by the Vidhan Sabha itself, the members of which are the beneficiaries of their own decision.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Dhindsa also an MLA, said Punjab government’s acceptance of the recommendations of the sixth pay commission and the announcement to increase salaries and pensions is no less than a hoax. “The state government had announced a 259% increase. But if we look at the past performance of the government, it has so far remained silent on the payment of arrears of salaries and DA to the employees from January 1, 2016, to June 30, 2021,” he said.
The former finance minister said as per the new notification, the government needs ₹25,000 crore to clear dues of around 5 lakh employees whereas only ₹8,000 crore is earmarked in the budget for the year 2021-22.
“The finance minister had promised in his budget speech to clear all arrears but no mention of this has been made in the notification issued by the Punjab government,” said Dhindsa.
He also criticised the cut in the house rent allowance and rural allowance. “NPAs of doctors, who are currently risking their lives, used to be the part of salaries. It has now been made an allowance,” he added.
