The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is a supreme body of the Indian government, which works as a bridge between both houses of parliament: the Lok Sabha, or lower house, and the Rajya Sabha, or upper house. The ministry deals with various tasks related to the parliament on behalf of the government. It is comprised of several parliamentary committees and provides assistance to the cabinet committee of parliamentary affairs. The ministry also decides the government’s stand on private members’ resolutions and bills. The ministry maintains close contact with ministries and departments in order to pass spending bills before the parliament; it also oversees new bills to be announced in parliament and bills that replace ordinances. The ministry was founded to reduce the workload of members of parliament.

Prior to India breaking away from Great Britain, the Secretary of the Ministry of Law, who used to be a nominated member of the Legislative Assembly, assisted the Leader of the House in the Central Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Department of the Government of India functioned as the coordinating agency between the Central Legislative Assembly and the entire Executive Wing of the government.

Following Independence, the Law Secretary ceased to be a member of the Assembly and functions of coordination went to the Government Chief Whip, who was appointed Secretary to the Leader of the Assembly.

The Government Chief Whip was given the rank of a Minister of State as of December 14, 1948. The following year a small office of support staff was created in the Ministry of Law to assist the Government Chief Whip with his functions. This office eventually became the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in 1949. Its functions mainly consisted of:

1. Efficient and smooth running of the parliamentary machinery;
2. Mapping out the time of the session and providing details of the government’s program of business;
3. Extracting from the proceedings of the House, assurances, promises and undertakings given by Ministers on the floor of the House and to watch and report to the House the progress of action taken on these assurances from time to time;
4. Coordination of activities of the Standing Committees attached to various ministries;
5. Acting as liaison between the various sections which come in contact with Parliament, such as between Ministers and the House, between the Speaker and the Members, and between the individual Members of the House.

On April 3, 1952, when the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) was established, the ministry of Parliamentary Affairs was made responsible for all the above functions in respect of that House as well.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is tasked with several matters related to Indian parliament. The ministry comprises consultative committees of parliamentarians. It also organizes parliamentary meetings and pursues various ministries and departments for proper and timely implementations of ministerial declarations. The ministerial officials maintain close contact with the ministries and departments, which sponsors bill. The ministers also need to be in touch with the Ministry of Law and Justice and Company Affairs, where bills are sent for drafting. The ministry also decides the government’s stance on the private members’ bills and resolutions in the parliament; it informs and advises the assorted ministries and departments on different matters related to the proceedings of parliament.

The ministry assumes responsibility for the arrangement of President’s Parliamentary address and the dissolution of Lok Sabha. The ministry also handles matters related to the allowances and pensions of Members of Parliaments and the leaders of the opposition. In addition, the ministry deals with the salaries and allowances of parliamentary officers. To promote and strengthen the support of democracy, the ministry organizes Youth Parliament Competitions in schools, colleges and universities throughout the country.

Besides the aforementioned tasks, the ministry also possesses other duties, designated under the government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules of 1961. These duties include:

• Preparing each member’s list of Select and Joint Committees of Parliament regarding different bills.
• Organizing and exchanging delegations of Members of Parliament with other countries and planning officially sponsored visits to other places of interest.
• Deciding a suitable time for motions or discussion in parliament followed by the notice of other Members of Parliament.

• Administrating issues related to the “power, privileges and immunities of Members of Parliament.”
• Appointing Members of Parliament on committees and other government-managed bodies.
• Preparing a manual for ministries and departments to handle parliamentary works.

Are Parliamentarians Underpaid or Overpaid?

The salary of Parliament members, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, has become a major  point of contention for the ministry. Between 2000 and 2010, the salary of MPs increased from RS 16,000 (329.083 USD) to 50,000 (1,028.38 USD). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and leftist parties both took issue with the salary hike. BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani opposed the raise, arguing that MPs should not be allowed to determine their own salary. According to the BJP, the salary of MPs was too low but there must be a proper method to  arrive at an appropriate salary.

The previous government, which was controlled by the BJP, appointed a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) composed of members of different political parties. The JPC recommended that MPs’ salaries be fixed to just one rupee above the salary of a secretary at Rs 80001 (1,645.43 USD). 

Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad initiated a campaign to increase the salary, backed by the MPs of the Samajwadi Party. Prasad, who like the Samajwadi relies on a lower-caste vote bank, thought it shameful that the representatives of the people aren’t paid enough; even a secretary would make more than an MP, he argued. Meanwhile, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni argued that this was a bad time to increase MP salaries.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pawan Kumar Bansal suggested it was inappropriate to compare an MP’s salary with the salary of a government servant. According to Bansal, an “MP's job is not an employment under the government. MPs can take other assignments which is not an office of profit.”

“A doctor MP can also practice as a doctor,” he added.

An allegation came from the public sector that MPs already had better facilities and thus this hike would pose a new burden to taxpayers. Some saw the threefold hike as inappropriate. According to the 1954 Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act apart from monthly routine salary, MPs’ constitutional allowance has increased from RS 20,000 (411.353 USD) to 40,000 (822.707 USD). Office expenses have also increased from RS 20,000 to 40,000. They receive a daily allowance of RS 1000 (20.5677 USD) during the Parliamentary session. According to a new amendment, the conveyance allowance has also risen from one lakh (2,056.77 USD) to four lakh (8,227.07 USD). Another group of people believe this hike could possibly ameliorate the rampant corruption and under-the-table payments to members of Parliament.  The amendment was passed in August 2010.

Lok Sabha Passes MPs’ Salary Hike Bill (Press Trust of India, NDTV)

MPs Salary Bill Clears (The Hindu)

Zero Accountability on Sonia’s Foreign Travel

In 2011 Rajasthan resident Kailash Kanwar filed a right to information act request with the External Affairs Ministry. He wanted to know where Congress party ahead Sonia Gandhi had traveled over the previous two years.  He also sought details on her travel to the United States to seek treatment for cancer. Kanwar’s inquiry demonstrated the limitations of the RTI act.

The external affairs ministry sent his query to the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, which was supposed to have information on travel that Gandhi had undertaken. Things were forwarded to the National Advisory Council, which forwarded it to the Prime Minister’s office. Both the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office claimed to have no information on Gandhi’s travel.  

No Details of Sonia Gandhi’s Foreign Tour Under RTI (Hindustan Times)

Govt. has No Info about Sonia’s Foreign Visits (Press Trust of India, Bangalore Mirror)

What Exactly Do Parliamentarians Do?

In February 2009, RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya asked the question: what exactly do members of Parliament and members of the legislative assembly (the state body) do? 

As it turns out, not much. 

As reported by the Times of India, an MLA’s “prime duty [is] to maintain communal harmony and peace among the people” and in the state of Haryana “members are bound to bear the true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as law established, that he will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India as per provisions of the Constitution of India.”

Bhattacharya attempt to get an exact definition of the responsibilities of members of the Lok Sabha and Raja Sabha has been met with silence.

MPs, MLAs have No Duties and Responsibilities (Times of India)

Vayalar Ravi

Vayalar Ravi served as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs from 2006 to 2009. He was born in 1937 in Kerala’s Alappuzha (Alleppey) district. He began his political career in 1957. While earning his LLB from the Law College of Ernakulam, he founded the Kerala Students Union (KSU), a youth wing of the Indian National Congress party.

He was first elected as an MP to the Lok Sabha from Chirayinkil in 1971. He served as the home minister of state government of Kerala in 1982. He resigned in 1986 due to differences of opinion with the Chief Minister of Kerala, K. Karuakaran. Ravi was selected as an MP to the Rajya Sabha in 2003. He has also been Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Civil Aviation.

He is married to Mercy Ravi, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Kerala. They have two daughters and one son.