ISLAMABAD: Members of the National Assembly have demanded their salaries be increased in accordance with the law, which stipulates that the salary of an MNA be equal to that of a federal secretary.

In a meeting on Monday, a subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures finalised recommendations for increasing perks and privileges currently offered to MNAs.

Chairing the subcommittee, Shagufta Jumani noted that MNAs and senators were equal in status to a federal secretary and a lieutenant general in the army.

The committee was told that in regards to protocol, the interior ministry had notified on July 6, 1970 that “Members of the Senate/ Members of the National Assembly [are] to take precedence over all others in the said group”.

The group referred to is all grade 22 officers in the government.

MNAs and senators are currently paid Rs36,423 per month and after the committee was told that the average federal secretary is paid Rs230,000 per month, participants of the meeting recommended that the basic salary of an MNA and a senator be made equivalent to that of a federal secretary.

The subcommittee also recommended that the monthly perks of a parliamentarian include a Rs50,000 allowance in their constituencies and the same amount for water and electricity bills. The meeting suggested that monthly telephone charges of between Rs10,000 to Rs20,000 per month and road travelling charges be increased from Rs10 to Rs20 per kilometre. Participants said the number of free air tickets be increased from 20 to 30 per year.

Several other suggestions were also made, including the establishment of a system for providing medical facilities for parliamentarians and pensions for the MNAs and senators who complete a term. The committee was also told that an MPA in Balochistan is Rs300,000 per month while their counterparts in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are paid Rs18,000 each month.

“Times have changed and the majority of parliamentarians are not feudal and don’t belong to rich families,” the chairman of the committee said.

“Improving the financial status of parliamentarians is important for the proper and more effective execution of public duty,” said Chaudhry Mehmood Bashir Virk, who is part of the subcommittee.

He talked about the “misconception” that MNAs and senators are corrupt and that they make money from other sources. He said parliamentarians be given their legal rights in order to end corruption.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2016