The Lok Sabha secretariat on Monday said the decision to sanction two increments for its employees in September was taken to remove pay anomalies, and was not a “unilateral” decision by the Speaker.
Responding to a newspaper report published on Monday, Lok Sabha Secretary General, P.D. T. Achary said that “facts” had not been reported correctly. “Two increments were sanctioned to remove some anomalies that arose as a result of the staff cadre review two years back,” Achary said.
Asked about the finance ministry’s objection to the move, Achary said, “The Lok Sabha budget is finalised by the Speaker and not the ministry.”
The Rajya Sabha Secretariat said some its employees had brought the Lok Sabha decision on increments to the notice of Chairman Hamid Ansari. “The chairman had taken up the matter with the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, who was asked to discuss it with the Finance Ministry,” Secretary General, Dr V.K. Agnithotri.