Adjourning the parliament is not the new thing. BJP is expert in creating ruckus in parliament and stall it for their demands. In the recent years, I don’t know how, India became a country with so many issues and contradictions. Probably, a common culture but this bond is not that strong anymore. If the countrymen don’t get their act on place then they simply disintegrate. In a year, Parliament runs for eighty days during sessions. Each day, businesses in both Houses are transacted for around six hours. If we take into account the total annual expenditure on Parliament, then for each minute of running the House costs Rs. 2.5 lakh. 77 per cent of the session’s business time in Lok Sabha and 72 per cent in Rajya Sabha were lost due to disruptions in this session; our MPs should realize this. India is a developing country and Parliament loses its relevance and significance if only disruptions take place in the House.
In our parliament, majority of the members are ‘crorepati’, they are not even bothered about expenses or efforts spent on one single session. Why there is any need to pay crorepatis who perform tamasha every day and we call the place as parliament in its place of circus tent. It’s high time; Supreme Court revisits such privileges and disciplines these swindlers. Constitution does not vest such disruptive powers to these MPs. Such disruptive sessions are anti-constitutional and anti-national and they can be imprisoned for such anti-constitutional acts. Enough is enough. Sooner or later people would take cudgels against these anti nationals. Who is in our country the least performing force this era? Why should the tax payer’s money be given to the MPs and the Parliament who do nothing for the betterment of the country but wasting a good amount of money? The entire salary along with perks for the last 5 years should be taken back from all the MPs from both the houses, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha for making the people fools during the last five years. It is pathetic that we call ourselves the large Democratic country, where only the handful of 550+ people making fools of the entire country.
Is the value of an Indian voter only this much? We picked and send our leaders to parliament to work for us. Instead, they are just bunking it and getting back to their posh MP Guest houses in Delhi? All parties must work on the forthcoming weekends (12 hours a day) to pass all the pending bills. No matter whatsoever happens. When true gentlemen are elected to Indian parliament by the voters the august house can be turned into a fish market where one can witness all the drama that one usually experience at a building which is purposely built for fish traders and brokers. Where is the President, whose partymen were the ones who made the house a place which is unworthy of its name? He made a speech on the Independence Day as president of India pointing his fingers towards anarchy created by a chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and advised everyone to behave responsibly to make India a strong and respectable country. What a shame? Parliament in recent times is not doing any job except shouting and yelling. These MPs are not setting an example for the people of India. I hope the next parliament after the election will enact a law preventing this unruliness. India’s MPs have given themselves a threefold hike in salary, now earning 68 times the country’s average salary. However, no conditions of service have changed. In the USA, members of Congress cannot earn more than 15 per cent from outside of their Congressional salary. In India, the average assets of 304 MPs who contested in 2004 and then re-contested in 2009 grew 300 per cent. The increase in the salaries of MPs and pension to former MPs would cost the government an additional Rs.103.76 crore every year. The increase in the daily, constituency and office expenditure allowances will cost the government an additional Rs. 38.50 crore every year.
An MP’s wage is tax-free and comes with additional perquisites such as free petrol, free telephone calls and free housing, some of it in the most expensive real estate in the country’s capital. Most household expenses – furniture, electricity, water, laundry – is also paid for by the State. MPs can travel anywhere in the country by rail, first class, and get 34 free air tickets for themselves or a companion a year. Spouses of MPs can travel free by air from their residence to New Delhi eight times a year when Parliament is in session and unlimited number of times by rail. Compared to developing countries, Indian MPs have unparallel freedom to fix their own salaries and perks. In France and Japan, salaries of MPs are determined in relation to the salaries of the highest paid bureaucrats. In Germany, Article 48 (3) of the Basic Law says that the members of Bundestag will get remuneration adequate enough to ensure their independence. In Switzerland, parliamentarians do not get any salary or allowance. They just get paid leave from their employers on the days of session.
Our beloved MPs should understand that delaying parliament will not fetch the result. Let the topic be discussed properly and a solution be defined. Stalling Parliament will only lead to wastage of public money and performance less sessions. This is really unfortunate that Parliament which enjoys the status of Temple of Democracy is being disrespected by few goons like MPs. Unfortunate, Unexpected and Unacceptable. Be Ethical, not callous. Let the parliament function.
