217 hours lost due to interruptions in Lok Sabha
Disruptions took place for 92 hours in 10th Session of Lok Sabha, and it cost around Rs 144 crore.
HYDERABAD: The average monthly expenditure on each MP is around Rs 2,70,000, including salary and all allowances and for running the Parliament, the expenditure is around Rs 2, 50,000 per minute. From April 1, 2018, the salaries and allowances of MPs were hiked by 100 per cent. The salaries of MPs have been revised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh per month. In the 10th Session of the current 16th Lok Sabha, disruptions took place for 92 hours and it cost around Rs 144 crore. With the decision of the NDA, the MPs belonging to NDA alliance parties will forego around Rs 2 lakh each for 23 days. The total amount will be around Rs 4.5 crore. At the same time, due to continuous disturbances in the Lok Sabha in the 23 days, the expenditure will be around Rs 4 crore at the rate of Rs 2.50 lakh per minute.
On an average, every day, Lok Sabha proceedings got disrupted by 10 minutes. The ministers will not get daily allowance during the Sessions and MPs will get Rs 2,000 per day. The total number of NDA alliance parties is 298 after the exit of the Shiv Sena and the TD. The total strength of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Cabinet is 75. After lone minister of Shiv Sena and two other ministers of the TD quit their posts, the total Cabinet strength was reduced to 75 from 78. After excluding these ministers, the total MPs of NDA is 223. The salaries and other allowances for ministers will be paid by their departments concerned and that of the MPs will be paid by Parliamentary Secretariat.
According to the data in the 16th Lok Sabha, 13 Sessions were held and the number of sitting hours was 1,381 hours and eight minutes. In this, the time lost due to interruptions was 217 hours and 16 minutes, excluding the current 14th Session. The 10th Session of the 16th Lok Sabha that ran from November 16 to December 16, 2016 had created record loss of 91 hours and 59 minutes. With repeated disruptions and adjournments in this session, the then President Pranab Mukherjee sharply reacted and said: “For God’s sake, do your job. You are meant to transact business in Parliament. Disruptions in Parliament is not acceptable at all”. The current 14th Session which began on March 5 till Thursday saw no business transaction. Amidst the din, the Lok Sabha passed important money Bills by voice vote.