Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected criticism and approved a major increase in the salaries of parliamentarians.
Although the increase is almost 300%, the government has justified it by comparing it with the salaries of federal secretaries.
Sources in the National Assembly Secretariat told Dawn that Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had issued a notification for the increase after the approval of the prime minister.
It has also been learnt that the parliamentarians have received their revised salaries for the month of January.
Despite political opposition, members of the government and opposition benches showed unusual unity on the issue of increasing their salaries and other benefits in the recent meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance.
The committee, headed by Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq, approved an increase of Rs519,000 in the monthly salary of each member of the National Assembly and senator.
Earlier, the members of the assembly used to get a monthly salary of Rs 180,000. It is learnt that the monthly salary of the members of the assembly was proposed at Rs 1 million, but the Speaker of the National Assembly rejected this proposal and agreed to increase it to Rs 519,000.
Salaries of provincial members
The committee was told that even after the increase, the salaries of MNAs and senators would be less than those of provincial assembly members.
National Assembly Secretariat sources told Dawn that before the Finance Committee meeting, members of the assembly belonging to all major political parties including the PPP, PTI and PML-N met Speaker Sadiq and demanded an increase in salaries.
The Standing Committee on Finance was told that the salaries of the members of parliament have not been increased for the last 7 years.
