Notwithstanding opposition from many Parliament members on the contentious “no-work, no-pay” proposal, the BJP has asked the opposition parties to do their part to dispell the image of the House as a chaotic place where no substantive work is done.

“Its better to let the Parliament function so that those questions are not raised; so that no-work-no-pay issues won’t come. Otherwise, people would ask if the Parliament is not functioning, then why to give subsidy (to canteen),” BJP leader Vijay Goel said in the Rajya Sabha here.

Goel’s remarks follow an intervention from Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal, who said there was a pattern in maligning the MPs by raising issues like subsidy in Parliament canteen and no-work-no-pay. The second idea was mooted by Mahesh Sharma, a minister in the government.

Agarwal wanted the government to give data on how many MPs actually consumed canteen food as well as how many Parliament staff, security personnel and journalists ate the same below market priced food. “We condemn attempts to sully the image of MPs. The House should pass a resolution on it. The Leader of the House (Arun Jaitley) should also take responsibility to restoring the image of the Parliament in people’s mind,” Agarwal said.
DH News Service