Panel scraps idea of cutting subsidy as it will affect staff
The panel says only a handful of MPs eat from Parliament canteen
New Delhi: Despite the ongoing controversy over MPs enjoying cheap, subsidised food in Parliament canteen, a parliamentary committee on Monday decided against raising the rates, saying it would mostly affect Parliament employees.
The chairman of the committee A.P. Jithender Reddy said that MPs, cutting across party lines, had supported continued food subsidy for parliamentarians. He said the committee unanimously decided to recommend continuation of the subsidy and against any upward revision in the rates of the food items.
He said that much hue and cry had been made by a television channels on the issue, especially targeting lawmakers, despite the fact that MPs are the ones who are using the facility the least. He pointed out that over 4,500 government employees were also making use of the food subsidy.
Mr Reddy said that the committee has found that those availing the canteen facility the most are class four employees of Parliament as also representatives of the media who cover the proceedings. He also said that if Parliament employees and media representatives are asked to bring food from home, it would create another security problem due to thousands of lunch boxes.
The lawmakers have to eat in the canteen many times because they cannot go home as their presence is necessary in Parliament, he said. Besides, he said in the inter-Session period, a minuscule minority of MPs eat in Parliament. He said the effort in the canteen was to provide hygienic food at affordable prices.
Mr Reddy lamented the controversy over the issue and said critics were ignoring the fact that subsidised food is made available by several corporates as also public sector undertakings to their employees as one of the facilities.
“If this is the case, then talking only about Parliament does not necessarily send the right message about lawmakers,” he suggested. Meanwhile, the TRS MP from Mahboobnagar also pressed for a separate High Court for Telangana. He said The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act has a provision for a separate High Court for Telangana. “We have repeatedly made this request to the Central government and unless it is met we will continue with our protests on the issue,” he added.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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