By IANS,
New Delhi : With the stalemate in parliament continuing, the Congress party said Friday most of its MPs have decided not to take the daily allowance in accordance with the principle of “no work, no pay”.
“It is the individual decision of MPs. But we have come to know that most MPs have decided to forego their daily allowance,” Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told IANS.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said several Congress MPs who met him over the last few days said they did not want to take their daily allowance of Rs.2,000 as parliament was getting adjourned without transacting any business.
“Though this is an individual decision, Congress MPs have decided that they will not take their daily allowance from Nov 10,” Bansal said.
The minister said the loss to the exchequer due to disruptions in parliament was very painful and added the principle of “no work, no pay” should be followed.
Answering a query, Bansal said he personally felt the allowance should be stopped for the days when parliament did not function.
“We are earnestly hoping members will come to parliament… I hope parliament starts running,” he said.
The minister said adjourning parliament sine die was not a solution and the government had never given it a thought.
Each MP gets Rs.2,000 as daily allowance during the parliament session.
Congress spokesperson and MP Manish Tewari had earlier written a letter to the Lok Sabha secretariat, saying that he should not be paid daily allowance on days when parliament did not function.