New chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar and election commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey have renounced a tax-free allowance to entertain visitors as well as two out of three leave travel concessions.
The decisions were taken in the first meeting of the EC after Kumar — a former Union financial services secretary — took office.
A source said: “This sends a message of austerity to everybody in positions of importance. When the heads of a constitutional body take such a decision it encourages a trend among those below to introspect as to how they can contribute to the country rather than how they can benefit from service.”
The sumptuary allowance of Rs. 34,000 a month to each EC is tax free — a perk which they will request the Centre to withdraw. They will only claim one LTC a year.