NEW DELHI: Anguished over the on-going stalemate in Parliament, Delhi BJP president and Lok Sabha member from Northeast Delhi Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday urged LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adopt “no work, no pay” policy against unruly MPs.
Mr Tiwari told this newspaper that like other professionals, salaries of Members of Parliament (MPs) must be deducted for not discharging their obligatory duty for the welfare of citizens of this country for which they have been elected.
Mr Tiwari, in a letter to Ms Mahajan, wrote that he was pained by the unprecedented chaos in Parliament resulting in loss of valuable time and public money. “I am writing this letter anguished over the current stalemate. As a Lok Sabha member, I am pained to see the unprecedented chaos in the House. It is disturbing to see how public representatives, who are responsible for law-making, are running away from their responsibilities,” wrote Mr Tiwari.
He urged Ms Mahajan to deduct the salary of those unruly members by following the practice of “no work, no pay”. “I propose deducting the salaries of those MPs who don’t do any constructive work,” Mr Tiwari wrote.
Today is the 12th consecutive day when Parliament has not functioned and the current stalemate has entered the third week of the second half of the Budget Session. Last week, the Finance Bill, 2018 was passed in the Lower House without any discussion or voting on the demands for grants of any of the ministries.
“The second half of the Budget Session, which started on March 5, did not see any meaningful proceedings, thanks to the protests by the Opposition parties on several issues. Things have come to such a pass that we are on the threshold of a washout of the second half of the Budget Session because of the MPs’ unruly behaviour,” he said. There are several public issues that were not at all discussed thanks to the frequent disruptions by the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament,” said Mr Tiwari.
Mr Tiwari suggested that the salaries of those members who jump into the well of the House to disrupt the proceedings must be deducted.” By deducting the salaries of members who don’t allow the House to function properly, we will set an example and don’t send a wrong message to the public,” Mr Tiwari added.
