MPS GENEROUS TO THEMSELVES 

New Delhi, Dec. 4 :    New Delhi, Dec. 4:  Members of Parliament today recommended a bonanza for themselves. They have proposed a hefty hike in their pay and allowances to Lok Sabha Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi, deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed and parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan. The Cabinet is likely to consider the proposal tomorrow. If the Cabinet approves the package, a Bill may be introduced in the current session of Parliament, sources said. The parliamentary affairs ministry is trying to get the finance ministry's nod before the proposal goes to the Cabinet for approval. The suggestions are an improvement over the recommendations of the K.P. Singh Deo committee on MPs' pay, pension and perks submitted two years ago. The details were worked out at meeting of party leaders with Balayogi and Mahajan. The recommendations include an increase in the salary from Rs 4,000 to Rs 11,900 per month, daily allowance (for each sitting ) from Rs 400 to Rs 500 and constituency allowance from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. Other suggestions include a hike in stationery allowance from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per month and the allowance for secretariat service from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000. The MPs are also getting franking allowance of Rs 1,000 per month. Local conveyance allowance may be hiked from Rs 6 to Rs 8 per km. Another suggestion is to give a pension of Rs 2,500 per month to members who complete four years in Parliament. The leaders at the meeting are also learnt to have decided to amend the relevant laws to fix a limit of five years before which no decision can be taken on the proposed hikes. The leaders who met the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and the parliamentary affairs minister to finalise the hike include Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and K. P. Singh Deo of the Congress, CPM's Hannan Mollah, Yerran Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party, Madan Jaiswal of the BJP and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party. Sources said the leaders discussed the prevailing rupee value as against the previous years in the context of the MPs' salaries. To buttress their claims for pay and allowance hikes, the leaders came armed with reports of the Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, the Fifth Pay Commission and the views of former finance ministers and retired deputy chairmen of the Planning Commission.