- The government has pushed two bills to temporarily reduce salaries and allowances of lawmakers and ministers in view of austerity measures following the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Under Article 106 of the Constitution, Indian lawmakers fix their own salaries.
- Lok Sabha passed a bill to reduce salaries of lawmakers by 30% for one year.
- Rajya Sabha will take up the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020 for consideration and passage.
- The bill amends the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers Act, 1952, the law that stipulates how much ministers, including the Prime Minister, get paid.
- The allowances bill cuts by 30% ministers’ monthly sumptuary allowance for a period of one year, effective from April 1, 2020.
- Sumptuary allowance is the lawmakers’ equivalent of a visitors’ entertainment reimbursement, a common paycheque head in the corporate world.
