MPs and CEOs salaries

I received the following forwarded mail. This shows how even the educated think that MP (or an MLA) just means a corrupt politician and have forgotten that they are people's representatives. People seem to have forgotten that even you and I can also become an MP or an MLA as per the constitution of India.

Here is the mail....................

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Salary & Govt. Concessions for a Member of Parliament (MP)

Monthly Salary : 12,000
Expense for Constitution per month :10,000
Office expenditure per month :14,000
Traveling concession (Rs. 8 per km) : 48,000( eg.For a visit from kerala to Delhi & return: 6000 km)
Daily DA TA during parliament meets :500/day
Charge for 1 class (A/C) in train:Free (For any number of times) (All over India )
Charge for Business Class in flights : Free for 40 trips / year (With wife or P.A.)
Rent for MP hostel at Delhi : Free
Electricity costs at home : Free up to 50,000 units
Local phone call charge : Free up to 1 ,70,000 calls
TOTAL expense for a MP [having no qualification] per year :32,00,000 [i.e. 2.66 lakh/month] TOTAL expense for 5 years :1,60,00,000
For 534 MPs, the expense for 5 years : 8,54,40,00,000 (nearly 855 crores)

AND THE PRIME MINISTER IS ASKING THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED, OUT PERFORMING CEOs TO CUT DOWN THEIR SALARIES.....

This is how all our tax money is been swallowed and price hike on our regular commodities....... And this is the present condition of our country:
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And here is what I have to say about this.
Most of us think of an illiterate corrupt politician who amasses wealth by illegal means when we think of an MP (or MLA for that matter). We tend to forget that in the Indian constitution you and I can become an MP for which we will have to resign our current jobs. Can we imagine how we can run our families without a job. So an MP also needs money (salary) to run his family.

A salary of Rs 12000 is the only money paid credited to his account without any questions being asked. Rs.12000 is a pittance to run a family of 4 in these times. The list below doesn’t mention HRA (I am not sure if they are paid one) meaning an MP should manage his family including the rent within just Rs. 12000.

Expense for constitution is not something that is paid to the MP, it is the cost the country incurs per MP in the parliament during the sessions in Delhi. Just like our companies spend for our coffee, tea, food (if provided), snacks, office telephone, electricity in the parliament, stationary etc during the office hours.

Office expenditure is for setting up a contact office in his constituency which includes, rent, maintenance, stationary etc for the office. This is required for him to maintain contact with people and to hear their problems and grievances. Rs. 14000 per month is reasonable for such expenses.

Travel concession is not for traveling from Kerala to Delhi by flight, it is for touring the constituency. Hiring an Indica costs Rs. 4-5/Km. As a representative of 14-15L citizens of this country we can expect an MP to travel in a better car that Indica for which Rs 8/- per KM is reasonable.

An engineer when deputed to a different city within India gets an allowance of Rs 800-1500 with or without accommodation depending on companies, considering that Rs 500 per day for an MP is acceptable, along with accommodation in the free MP Hostel in Delhi, which is a necessity as they are closer to the parliament and he needs to have a comfortable stay as long as he is in a place outside his home town.

Free travel for 2 in an AC train is very much acceptable, but I wonder why should this be all over India? May be they can restrict it to the sate he belongs to.

40 flight trips per year is also on the higher side.
50,000 units of electricity is too much, I doubt if the data is correct, that is about 4000 units per month is a lot of electricity. Obviously that should be reduced by a large extent.

The free telephone calls are acceptable as he needs to communicate with people and ministries in Delhi and the local administrations.

And please remember none of this except the salary of Rs. 12000 comes to him without producing the relevant receipts. All these are maximum but paid as per actual on producing the bills.

Going by the mail below, if one gets a salary 2.66 L/month how many of us are willing to become an MP, considering all the politics, mud slinging that you have to go through during an election (Forget the money part of the election for now). Do you still think if the above salary and perks alone are attractive enough for you to become an MP or MLA.

No doubt we have corrupt MPs and MLAs who do nothing for their constituency or for the country, but that doesn’t mean we don’t pay them anything for doing their job. More over Rs.855 crores for 5 years spent on people’s representatives is a pittance for a country that has a budget of over 200 Billion USD per year, for a government that waives off Rs.60000 Crores of farm loans.

About the question of reducing the CEOs salaries is a different issue. Don’t compare an MPs salary and perk with a CEOs. A MP is supposed to represent 14-16Lakh Indians unlike a CEO who works for a few shareholders.