Here’s what Lok Sabha members get as salaries, allowance & Other benefits

Here’s what Lok Sabha members get as salaries, allowance & Other benefits

Article 106 of the Constitution of India provides that the members of either House of Parliament shall be entitled to receive salaries and allowances as may from time to time be determined by Parliament. The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, enacted in pursuance to the constitutional provision, governs the salaries and allowances of the members.

A Joint Committee of the two Houses, constituted from time to time, frame rules, after consultation with the Government of India, to provide for matters like medical, housing, telephone facilities, etc. and for regulating the payment of daily and travelling allowances under the said Act. The Act and the rules made thereunder have been amended from time to time, in keeping with the changing requirements.

According to the official website of Lok Sabha, this information is an attempt to give at one place salaries, allowances, other entitlements and all amenities and facilities available to members of Lok Sabha so that members, especially the newly elected, could know them at a glance. However, the information contained in this publication is not exhaustive.

Here’s what the members get:

1. Salaries and Allowances

The Salaries and Allowances of members are governed by the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, as amended from time to time, and the rules made thereunder.

# Monthly Salary: Each member of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha is entitled to receive a salary of Rs 50,000 per month during the whole term of office. (The term of office of a member begins with the date of publication of the notification by the Election Commission and ends with the date on which that seat becomes vacant.)

# Daily Allowance: Rs 2,000 per day for each day of residence on duty.

# Constituency Allowance: Rs 45,000 per month.

# Office Expense Allowance: Rs 45,000 per month.
(Out of these, Rs 15,000 for meeting expenses on stationery items and postage, and Rs 30,000 is paid by the Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha Secretariat to the person(s) as may be engaged by a member for obtaining secretarial assistance)

2. Travelling Allowance (TA) and Travel Facilities

(a) Travelling Allowance

A member is entitled to the following allowances for the journeys performed for attending a Parliament Session or meeting of a Parliamentary Committee or for the purpose of attending any other business connected with the duties as a member from the usual place of residence to the place of duty and for return journey from such place to the usual place of residence:

# By Rail: One free non-transferable First class AC or Executive class of any train pass and one First class and one Second class fare.

# By Air: One and one-fourth air fare of the airlines in which the member travels.

# By Road: Rs 16 per km.

(b) Travel Facilities

(i) Air Travel Facility: Every member has been given the facility to avail 34 single air journeys during a year with spouse or any number of companions or relatives. The spouse/companion can travel alone eight times in a year to meet the member. Any journey performed by the spouse, companions or relatives shall be added in computing the ceiling of 34 air journeys. The balance of unused air journeys for a year shall be carried over to the following year. A member performing more than 34 air journeys in a year is allowed to adjust not exceeding 8 air journeys available for the next year.

(ii) Rail Travel Facility: A member, on the strength of the Identity Card, is entitled to travel at any time by any railway in India in first class air-conditioned or executive class. The Identity Card issued to the member is non-transferable. The Identity Card also entitles the member to be accompanied by one person in air-conditioned two-tier, while travelling by rail.

(iii) Facilities for Spouse of a Member: One free non-transferable railway pass to travel in first class air-conditioned or executive class in any train, and if travelled by air, an amount equal to the air fare, from the usual place of residence of a member to Delhi and back during Parliament Session, subject to 8 such journeys in a year.

(iv) The spouse is entitled to travel in first class air-conditioned or executive class in all the trains with the member from any place in India to any other place in India. A member having no spouse is entitled to accompany with any other person in lieu of spouse in any train in first class air-conditioned or executive class from any place in India to any other place in India in addition to the facility already available to the member in respect of one companion in AC-II tier.

3. Accommodation

(i) Transit Accommodation

# After every General Election for Lok Sabha, arrangements are made for stay of newly-elected members temporarily in State Governments’ Guest Houses/Bhawans, Hotels, etc. in New Delhi. Such accommodation is treated as transit accommodation.

# During stay in transit accommodation, a member shall be provided single suite free of licence fee till such time regular accommodation is made available.

(ii) Regular Accommodation

# Each member is entitled to a rent-free flat or hostel accommodation throughout the term of office. A member allotted housing accommodation in the form of a Bungalow on request shall pay full normal licence fee if entitled to such accommodation.

# Members of Lok Sabha or their families can retain Government Accommodation for a maximum period of one month after their term ends or resignation/removal or ceasing to be a member of Lok Sabha on payment of the same rent/licence fee, if any, which they were paying immediately before the occurrence of any of the events mentioned above.

# The family of a deceased member of Parliament may retain Government accommodation for a maximum period of six months from the date of death of such a member on payment of the same rent/ licence fee, if any, prior to the occurrence of aforementioned event.

(iii) Guest Accommodation: The guests of members can avail accommodation at Western Court Hostel, Janpath.

(iv) Other Facilities: Other facilities enjoyed by members include washing of sofa covers and curtains every three months; furniture within the monetary ceiling of Rs 60,000 in respect of durable furniture and Rs 15,000 for non-durable furniture; and also 25 per cent remission in the rents on account of any improvement or addition made to it or any additional service provided thereto by way of furniture, electrical equipment and other services.

4. Telephone Facilities

# A member is entitled to have three telephones, out of which at least one telephone should be installed at residence or office in Delhi and one at usual place of residence or a place selected by the member  in the constituency or the State in which the member resides; the third telephone can be installed at either of the aforesaid place.

# 50,000 local calls during a year are free on each of the three telephones.

# These 50,000 free local calls can be clubbed together which comes to 1,50,000 local calls in a year.

# Every member is entitled to one mobile phone connection of MTNL and another mobile phone connection of MTNL/BSNL or any private mobile operator, in case MTNL/BSNL services are not available, with
national roaming facility for utilization in the constituency. The calls made from these mobile phones are adjusted from the above-mentioned 1,50,000 free local calls available to the member on three telephones.

# The 3G facility as offered by MTNL/BSNL is optional for members. The charges towards the 3G package as well as additional usage of facility will be adjustable within the aforesaid 1,50,000 free calls available to the member.

5. Water and Electricity

# 4000 kilolitre of water and 50,000 units of electricity (25,000 units measured on light meter and 25,000 units measured on power meter or pooled together) per annum beginning from 1 January of every year is supplied free of cost at the residence allotted to a member in Delhi/New Delhi or to a member residing in private accommodation in Delhi.

# The unutilized units of electricity and water are carried over to the subsequent years and any excess consumption in a particular year is adjusted from the units available for the next year.

6. Medical Facilities

# A Member of Parliament is entitled to same medical facilities as are available to the Class-I officers of Central Civil Services, under Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).

7. Advance for Purchase of Conveyance

# Upto Rs 4,00,000 are advanced to a member for the purchase of conveyance.

# Recovery of the said advance, together with interest thereon, as applicable on loan to Government servants, shall be made from the salary bill of the member in not more than 60 equal monthly installments which shall not extend beyond the tenure of membership.

8. Income Tax Facilities

# For the purpose of income tax, the salary and allowances received by member are taxed under the head “income from other sources” and consequently, no income-tax is deducted at source. The daily allowance and constituency allowance are exempt from income tax.

9. Other Benefits

Apart from these salary and allowances, the members are also entitled to other benefits, like under the Provision of Computer Equipment (Members of Lok Sabha) Rules, 2009, a member of Lok Sabha who has been elected in general election/nominated by the President or elected in by-election/ nominated by the President and whose remaining term of Lok Sabha is less than 3 years, is entitled to purchase computer equipment i.e. Desktop, Laptop, Printer, Scanner, Palmtop, e-Reader etc. within the monetary ceiling of Rs 2 lakh or Rs 1,50,000 as the case may be, during the term of a Lok Sabha. In case a member prefers to purchase computer equipment without e-Reader, the financial entitlement shall be restricted to the amount of Rs 1,50,000 or Rs 1 lakh, as the case may be.

Source: Financialexpress.com