Taxpayers’ money running into lakhs may be going down the drain thanks to Parliament’s relentless disruption. But Opposition MPs self-righteously justify doing what they have been doing for the sake of the aam admi. So even as the MPs of both the Houses get to pocket a daily allowance of `2,000 per day for being in the capital to participate in the till now stymied Parliament proceedings, there is no House sitting to be endured.
Of course, the allowance constitutes just a small portion of the present day MPs’ salary package which they gave to themselves during Parliament’s Monsoon Session. Ironically, while many MPs justified the continuing disruption saying that by raising the issues of corruption and scams they were speaking for the aam admi, it’s the common man who appears to be paying a heavy price for a paralysed Parliament.
For taxpayers money running into lakhs is what it costs to run Parliament each day when it’s in session. However, with work at a standstill in both the Houses, some MPs are not even in the capital, having gone back to their home towns or constituencies.
Nishikant Dubey is an MP from Godda in Jharkhand and belongs to the BJP, the party leading the charge for setting up a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) into the 2G spectrum allocation scam. For two weeks now, he’s been awaiting his turn to speak on the supplementary budget for which he goes all prepared to the Lok Sabha every day.
However, he defends the continuing disruption of Parliament saying, “We’re raising an issue concerning the aam admi. Hum toh logon ki hi baat kar rahe hain (we’re raising issues concerning the people).”