According to the information obtained by an activist through RTI, Parliament canteens are paid crores of rupees by the government as subsidies, every year, due to food and refreshments served by them to Members of Parliament at cheap rates.
MPs can get a masala dosa for Rs 6, fish fried with chips for Rs 25, chicken/mutton biryani for Rs 50 and so on. And that too in New Delhi in 2015. At a time when the common man is reeling under the high food inflation, it does not befit MPs to take food and snacks at such dirt cheap rates, leaving the balance to be borne by the public exchequer.
Further, MPs whose monthly income is reported to be about Rs 1.40 lakhs, are slated to get 100% increase in salary and perks according to the recommendations of a panel of MPs. While an increase in salary is certainly due to them, a 100% increase at one time is rather high. It is also strange that MPs themselves decide their own salary and perks.
In all fairness, our MPs should accept a voluntary reduction in the subsidy on food and also agree to an increase in salary at a reasonable rate.
