How much money do MPs need? Emoluments Commission might decide

To look into the touchy issue of MPs' remuneration and allowances, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has suggested setting up a three member independent Emoluments Commission.

The suggestion precedes the two-day All India Whips Conference to be held in Vishakhapatnam from September 29, 2015.

A whip is an official of a political party who ensures that members maintain discipline in Parliament and vote in sync with party policy.

"The setting up of an independent Emoluments Commission for recommending salaries and allowances of the Members of Parliament will not only put to rest the public outcry and media criticism over MPs themselves deciding their salaries, it will also ensure that recommendations on parliamentary salary are reached in a fair, transparent and equitable way," a senior government official was quoted in a media report.

Currently, MPs' salaries are determined by the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954. The latest revision in the lawmakers' salaries was in 2010 when the basic salary was hiked to Rs 50,000 per month.

According to a survey of 37 developing and developed countries, salaries of MPs range from as frugal as Rs 7,952 in Tunisia to as handsome as Rs 6,16,675 per month in Israel.

Right now, Indian MPs earn higher than their counterparts in Tunisia, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Haiti and Panama.