The Prime Minister, ministers of the union cabinet and all members of Parliament will take a 30% salary cut for the next one year while the MPLADS funds will also be frozen for the same period.
These decisions were taken at a meeting of the Union cabinet on Monday. The amount thus saved will be utilised to manage the fallout from the novel coronavirus and to battle the outbreak, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said.
The President, Vice-President and Governors of all states have also voluntarily decided to forgo part of their salaries.
Briefing reporters, the minister said the cabinet approved an ordinance amending the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 reducing allowances and pension by 30% from April 1 2020 for one year. “The money will go to Consolidated Fund of India,” he added.
The cabinet also approved temporary suspension of MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) fund scheme during 2020-21 and 2021-22, and the funds will be used for managing health services and the adverse impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, he said. Javadekar said that the consolidated amount of MPLAD Funds for two years, around Rs 7,900 crores, will go to the Consolidated Fund of India.
-India Legal Bureau