How much did India spend on Rajya Sabha MPs?

India bestows significant privileges upon its parliamentarians, enhancing the allure of being a Rajya Sabha member. These privileges range from domestic and international travel expenses to technological assistance. According to an RTI reply, India spent around Rs 200 crore on salaries, allowances and facilities for Rajya Sabha MPs over the last two years with around Rs 63 crore spent on their travel alone.In 2021-22, in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, the exchequer spent over Rs 97 crore on Rajya Sabha members.Their salaries cost Rs 57.6 crore in total. Each month, a Rajya Sabha member receives Rs 2.10 lakh, which includes Rs 20,000 for office expenses and Rs 1.90 lakh in salary and allowances under the Salary and Allowances Member of Parliament Act 1954.Rajya Sabha MPs also enjoy attractive travel allowances, which totalled Rs 28.5 crore for domestic travel and Rs 1.28 crore for international travel. Other expenses include Rs 17 lakh in medical bills and Rs 7.5 crore in office expenses. It also spent Rs 1.2 crore on MPs' information technology help.In the 2021-23, Rs 100 crore was spent in total which included Rs 33 crore in domestic and foreign travel expenses, according to the reply by Rajya Sabha Secretariat to a query filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Madhya Pradesh-based Chander Shekhar Gaur.[caption id="attachment_12634192" align="alignnone" width="640"]

In 2021-22, in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, the exchequer spent over Rs 97 crore on Rajya Sabha members. File image/PTI[/caption]The Rajya Sabha Secretariat has said that during 2022-23, Rs 58.5 crore was spent on the salaries of members, while Rs 30.9 crore on domestic travel and Rs 2.6 crore on foreign travel.Other expenses include medical treatment (Rs 65 lakh), Rs 7 crore in office expenses and Rs 1.5 crore on IT services.The Secretariat said that the expenditure incurred on former MPs of Rajya Sabha under account head "Domestic Travel Expenses" was Rs 1.7 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 70 lakh for 2022-23.According to records in 2021, Rajya Sabha's productivity rate was 43 per cent in the Winter Session, 29 per cent in the Monsoon Session and 90 per cent in the Budget session.The following year, its productivity was 94 per cent during the Winter Session, 42 per cent during the Monsoon Session and 90 per cent during the Budget session.This year so far, during the Budget session its productivity reached a low of 24 per cent.With inputs from PTIRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.