PESHAWAR: An impending increase in salaries, allowances and privileges of the members of provincial assembly will put Rs100 million extra burden on the low-income Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The relevant officials have told Dawn that the government is likely to table the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Salaries and Allowances of Members) Act (Amendment) Bill during the current session of the assembly.

The government has approved the house’s special committee’s report recommending increase in the salaries and allowances of the speaker, deputy speaker and MPAs.

Salaries bill to be tabled in current assembly session

The report of the seven-member committee comprising the treasury and opposition members was tabled in the house in March. It had secured unanimous approval.

The report said salaries of the provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants and parliamentary secretaries were insufficient and therefore, the government should increase them.

Justifying the proposed pay raise, the committee observed in the report that majority of the MPAs belonged to the middle class and therefore, they could not survive with the existing salaries due to the skyrocketing inflation.

The financial cost of the existing parliamentary democratic system is on the rose with the provincial government spending a huge amount of money on the salaries, allowances, privileges and other facilities of MPAs though majority of the population is living below the poverty line.

The government depends on federal receipts and foreign donors for social development schemes.

An official in the know said the daily expenditure of an assembly sitting was around Rs800,000, excluding the cost of utility services, security, entertainment and other facilities.

“The proposed raise in salaries, allowances and privileges of lawmakers will cost the government an additional Rs100 million per annum,” he said.

The official said the financial cost of the democratic dispensation was increasing day by day but the performance of the members of the provincial assembly was a letdown.

“The assembly met for 105 days in the first parliamentary year though the actual working days are 72. On average, the assembly members met for two hours in a working day to dispose of parliamentary business,” he said.

He said the scenario was the worst in the parliamentary history of the province.

They said members of the ruling coalition led by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf didn’t take interest in the house business with majority of MPAs, ministers and parliamentary secretaries remaining absent from the session frequently.

On Friday, only 10 lawmakers from the treasury and opposition benches attended the last hour of the proceedings showing the disinterest of MPAs in the parliamentary business.

As happened during the days of last assembly, the sessions of the current house begin one and half hour late daily.

When contacted, Speaker Asad Qaisar justified the proposed pay Raise in KP lawmakers’ pay to cost govt Rs100m raise for MPAs saying performance of the current assembly was exceptional.

He said the prime duty of lawmakers was to legislate and the house had passed 28 bills during the first parliamentary year.

“It will bring about a revolution in the province if the approved laws are fully implemented,” he said.

The speaker said 90 per cent of the sitting MPAs belonged to the middle class, so they deserved a reasonable pay increase in salary.

He even said he had turned bankrupt.

According to the bill, the value of every MPA’s monthly allowances and privileges will go up to Rs204,040 from the current Rs77,600.

The house’s special committee recommended that traveling allowance (by road) should be increased from Rs3 per kilometre to Rs15 per kilometre and that basic salary of an MPA should be increased from Rs12,000 per month to Rs18,000 per month.

In addition, every MPA should be paid Rs10,000 office maintenance allowance, Rs10,000 telephone allowance, Rs10,000 sumptuary allowance, Rs4,800 utility allowance, Rs30,000 house rent, which is currently zero, Rs9,000 medical allowance, Rs15 per kilometre traveling allowance and Rs1,600 session allowance (per day).

In light of the report, basic salary of the speaker will go up from Rs30,500 per month to Rs80,000 per month.

The committee has proposed that the speaker should get Rs200,000 additional traveling allowance, which is currently nil.

Similarly, it is proposed that the basic salary of the deputy speaker should increase to Rs54,000 per month from Rs27,000 per month.

Currently, the deputy speaker is entitled to business class air travel. The committee has recommended Rs150,000 additional travel allowance for him.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2014