Kundi demands increased salaries for MNAs

Kundi demands increased salaries for MNAs

Islamabad: (Monday, May 21, 2012) Faisal Karim Kundi, Deputy Speaker National Assembly said today that the country’s legislators are paid fairly less as compared to their counterparts in India, Bangladesh and in other South Asian
countries.

Wishing for more perks and privileges for the members’ national assembly, Kundi said that their basic salaries were not enough to meet their expenses and were barely enough to maximize their capacity as lawmakers of the country.

He said, “They should be given independent offices with necessary administrative staff to discharge their responsibilities as lawmakers if you want to build their capacity.”

Commenting on the much debated competence of the lawmakers from Fata, the deputy speaker said that all of them participated in the legislation process during the assembly proceedings.

However, he stressed that for building the MNA’s capacity further, a considerable raise in the basic pays was essential. He said, “For building the capacity of MNAs, an increase in monthly salary and allowances will be helpful.”

Adding to his words, Kundi also admitted that the packs of budget related documents presented to MNAs by the finance ministry every year during the budget session are not properly utilized by legislators.

He also lamented that the annual reports by the Auditor General of Pakistan were submitted to the National Assembly every year, but there was never any debate on them. When asked about why audit reports were not discussed in the
assembly, the deputy speaker could only say, “I don’t know”.

He further added, “I think that audit reports should be discussed in the National Assembly to ensure accountability of all those who are ruling the country in one way or the other.”

He shared that the constitution requires the auditor general to present his reports before the parliament, which he was doing. He however noticed that for the first time a report prepared by the National Assembly’s Public Accounts
Committee was debated in the House.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=22963

Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on May 21 2012. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry