New Delhi, Aug. 17 :    New Delhi, Aug. 17:  Picture this: a monthly purse of Rs 53,500 plus perks that include a hundred thousand free local calls every year and other benefits such as free air and train travel. These and much more make up the pay packet all 790 members of Parliament will take home once they clear the legislation revising their cost-to-people. The Cabinet last night cleared an across-the-board three-fold increase in salary and a hefty raise in allowances and perks for MPs. Though government circles were unwilling to work out the actual sum the nation will have to fork out to look after its lawmakers, the hike is expected to place an added annual burden of over Rs 23.78 crore on the exchequer. This means that the country will now have to spend an additional Rs 3 lakh on each MP every year. Besides, the parliamentarians have been granted several hidden benefits such as air and train travel, cooking gas and telephone connections, which were not mentioned in the revised estimates recommended by the joint committee on salaries and allowances. Not all MPs, particularly those from the Left parties, were happy with the whopping salary raise, though 90 per cent members justified it as a 'matter of right'. Finance minister Yashwant Sinha had strong reservations about doling out crores at a time when the economy is in bad shape. But Sinha, who is under fire over the UTI mess, was forced to give in to placate his House colleagues. The Bill revising the pay hike is likely to be passed on Monday. Government sources shrugged off speculation that the raise would trigger public outrage. A Union minister said: 'What will happen? There will be some editorials against parliamentarians and then everything will die down. Opinion-makers should realise one thing: MPs are a special category. They do not get any pension. Compared to western countries, our lawmakers are still lowly paid.' However, salaries of MPs will henceforth be revised once every five years. There had been no restriction in the past. The last revision was made in August 1998. It will also be mandatory for all members to file tax returns. Among the drastic measures cleared by the Cabinet is a proposal to provide mobile phones to MPs with adjustment against the one lakh free calls. In addition, members whose constituencies are 1,000 km or more away from New Delhi will be entitled to 20,000 free calls annually. Each MP will be given a new mobile handset free of cost. At present, all lawmakers are entitled to 100,000 free calls but the complaint was that these calls were not adjusted against their cellphones. The Cabinet has now allowed adjustment of these free calls against mobile phone bills. Daily allowances for MPs when Parliament is in session will go up by 25 per cent from the present Rs 400. With the House sitting in session 180 days every year, the increase will lead to an annual additional expenditure of Rs 1.42 crore. To keep the members happy, the Cabinet has disregarded the recommendation of the joint committee and increased monthly constituency allowance by Rs 2,000. The committee had suggested that the allowance be frozen at Rs 8,000 per month. Each MP will be entitled to free air travel 48 times every year. Members can travel by AC first class with their spouses. The word 'spouse' was replaced by 'companion' to enable unmarried or widowed members to take their partners along. Lawmakers had often cited their 'inadequate' office expense allowance to explain why they did not appoint researchers. The Cabinet has now raised the allowance from Rs 9,500 to Rs 14,000. Only around two dozen MPs have hired professionals to assist them in drafting speeches.