Centre notifies 24% hike in salaries, pensions for MPs

The notification, issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, also increased the daily allowances for sitting members and pension and additional pension for every year of service in excess of five years for former members.

New Delhi: Members of Parliament will now get Rs 1.24 lakh as salary and a daily allowance of Rs 2,500 if they attend House proceedings, with the Union government notifying a 24 per cent hike with effect from April 1, 2023 on the basis of the Cost Inflation Index. Pension and additional pension for every year of service in excess of five years for former MPs have also been increased.

Since April 1, 2018, MPs were drawing a salary of Rs 1 lakh and an allowance of Rs 2,000 for each day the lawmakers were attending Parliament proceedings.

The pension for a former MP has been increased from Rs 25,000 per month to Rs 31,000 per month while additional pension for every year of service in excess of five years has been increased from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 2,500 per month.

The increase in the salary has been notified by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs on March 21 in exercise of the powers granted under the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act on the basis of the Cost Inflation Index specified in the Income Tax Act of 1961.

According to Practice and Procedure of Parliament by MN Kaul and SL Shakdher, the recent edition of which was edited by Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh, an MP was entitled Rs 400 as salary and Rs 21 as daily allowance after Parliament passed the Act related to salaries and allowances in 1954.

It was later revised to Rs 500 in June 1964, Rs 750 in August 1983, Rs 1,000 in December 1985, Rs 1,500 in April 1988, Rs 4,000 in August 1998, Rs 12,000 in September 2001, Rs 16,000 in September 2006, Rs 50,000 in May 2009 and Rs one lakh in April 2018.

Daily allowance also rose from Rs 21 in 1954 to Rs 31 in 1964, Rs 51 in 1969, Rs 75 in 1983, Rs 150 in 1988, Rs 200 in 1993, Rs 400 in 1998, Rs 1,000 in 2006 and Rs 2,000 in 2018.

During Covid-19, the Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of MPs had decided for a 30 per cent reduction in constituency allowance and office expense allowances between April 2020 and March 2021.

Besides salary and daily allowance, an MP is also entitled to constituency allowance, allowance for hiring an assistant, stationery items, furniture allowance, telephone, internet and mobile, free air tickets for 34 journeys, free rail pass and mileage allowance for road travel.

They are also entitled to 50,000 free units of electricity and 4,000 kilolitres of water a year and government accommodation in Delhi.

Sources said constituency allowance has been increased to Rs 87,000 per month from Rs 70,000 while the allowances for an assistant has been raised from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. For stationary items, Rs 25,000 will be allotted in place of Rs 20,000. For durable furniture, an MP will be allotted Rs one lakh instead of Rs 80,000 and another Rs 25,000 for non-durable furniture.

MP – Salary

Rs 400 – 1954

Rs 500 – June 1964

Rs 750 – August 1983

Rs 1,000 – December 1985

Rs 1,500 – April 1988

Rs 4,000 – August 1998

Rs 12,000 – September 2001

Rs 16,000 – September 2006

Rs 50,000 – May 2009

Rs 1 lakh – April 2018

Rs 1.24 lakh – April 2023

MP – Daily Allowance

Rs 21 – 1954

Rs 31 – 1964

Rs 51 – 1969

Rs 75 – 1983

Rs 150 – 1988

Rs 200 – 1993

Rs 400 – 1998

Rs 1,000 – 2006

Rs 2,000 – 2018

Rs 2,500 – 2023