An open letter from our former MP Pritish Nandy. > I was an MP > not very long ago. I loved those six years. > > Everyone called me sir, not > because of my age but because I was an MP > > And even though I never travelled anywhere > by train during those years, I reveled in the fact that I > could have gone anywhere I liked, on any train, first class > with a bogey reserved for my family. > Whenever I flew, there were always people > around to pick up my baggage, not because I was > travelling business class but because I was an MP. > > And yes, whenever I wrote to > any Government officer to help someone in need, it was done. > No, not because I was a journalist but because I was an > MP. > > > The job had many perquisites, apart from > the tax free wage of Rs 4,000. Then the wages were suddenly > quadrupled to Rs 16,000, with office expenses of Rs 20,000 > and a constituency allowance of Rs 20,000 thrown in. I could > borrow interest free money to buy a car, get my petrol paid, > make as many free phone calls as I wanted. My home came > free. So did the furniture, the electricity, the water, the > gardeners, the plants. There were also allowances to wash > curtains and sofa covers and a rather funny allowance of Rs > 1,000 per day to attend Parliament, which I always thought > was an MPs job in the first place! And, oh yes, we also > got Rs 1 Crore a year (now enhanced to Rs 2 Crore) to spend > on our > constituencies. More enterprising MPs enjoyed many more > perquisites best left to your imagination. While I was > embarrassed at being vastly overpaid for the job I was > doing, they kept demanding more. > > > Today, out of 543 MPs in Lok Sabha, 315 are Crorepatis. > Thats 60%. 43 out of the 54 newly elected Rajya Sabha > MPs are also millionaires. Their average declared assets are > over Rs 25 Crore each. Thats an awfully wealthy lot of > people in whose hands we have vested our destiny. > > > The assets of your average Lok Sabha MP > have grown from Rs 1.86 Crore in the last house to Rs 5.33 > Crore. Thats 200% more. And, as we all know, not all > our MPs are known to always declare all their assets. Much > of these exist in a colour not recognised by our tax laws. > Thats fine, I guess. Being an MP gives you certain > immunities, not all of them meant to be discussed in a > public forum. > > > Of the previous government, If you think it > pays to be in the ruling party, you are dead right: 7 out of > 10 MPs from the Congress are Crorepatis. The BJP have 5. MPs > from some of the smaller parties like SAD, TRS and JD > (Secular) are all Crorepatis while the NCP, DMK, RLD, BSP, > Shiv Sena, National Conference and Samajwadi Party have more > Crorepatis than the 60% average. > > > Only the CPM and the Trinamool, the two > Bengal based parties, dont field Crorepatis. The CPM > has 1 correlate out of 16 MPs; the Trinamool has 7 out of > 19. This shows in the state-wise average. West Bengal and > Kerala have few correlate MPs while Punjab and Delhi have > only correlate MPs and Haryana narrowly misses out on this > distinction with one MP, poor guy, whos not a > correlate. > > > Do MPs become richer in office? Sure they > do. Statistics show that the average assets of 304 MPs who > contested in 2004 and then > re-contested last year grew 300%. And, yes, were only > talking about declared assets here. > > But then, we cant complain. We are the > ones who vote for the rich. Over 33% of those with assets > above Rs 5 Crore won the last elections while 99.5% of those > with assets below Rs 10 lakhs lost! Apart from West Bengal > and the North East, every other state voted for correlate > MPs. Haryana grabbed first place with its average MP worth > Rs 18 Crore. Andhra is not far behind at 16. > > > But no, this is not enough for our MPs. > Its not enough that they are rich, infinitely richer > than those who they represent, and every term makes them > even richer. Its not enough that they openly perpetuate > their families in power. Its not enough that all their > vulgar indulgences and more are paid for by you and me > through backbreaking taxes. Its not enough that the > number of days they actually work in Parliament are barely > 60 in a year. > > The rest of > the time goes in squabbling and ranting. Now they want a > 500%pay hike and perquisites quadrupled. The Government, to > buy peace, has already agreed to a 300% raise but thats > not good enough for our MPs. They want more, much more. > > > And no, Im not even mentioning that > 150 MPs elected last year have criminal cases against them, > with 73 serious, very serious cases ranging from rape to > murder. > > Do you really think > these people deserve to earn 104 times what the average > Indian does? >
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 12:14:40 +0000
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