Government recommends Emoluments Commission for setting salaries of MPs

NEW DELHI: Faced with criticism each time there is a move to review the salaries of lawmakers, the government has suggested formation of a three-member independent Emoluments Commission to recommend salaries and other allowances of MPs from time to time.

The suggestion has come from the parliamentary affairs ministry and forms part of the Agenda Notes prepared by it for the forthcoming two-day All India Whips Conference to be held in Vishakhapatnam from September 29, 2015. Parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu will chair the conclave.

"The setting up of an independent Emoluments Commission for recommending the salaries and allowances of MPs will not only put to rest the public outcry and media criticism over MPs themselves deciding their salaries, it will also provide an appropriate opportunity to take into consideration the huge responsibilities and the important role they play in our representative democracy," the Agenda Notes state.

The ministry has recommended general principles that should be followed while determining salary. Firstly, the salary of an MP should not be so low as to deter suitable candidates nor so high as to make pay the primary attraction for the job. Secondly, the salary should reflect level of responsibility and thirdly, those with outside interest should not be deterred from entering Parliament and those choosing to make Parliament a full-time career should be adequately rewarded.