Economist Nishan de Mel has highlighted that the expenditure incurred for Parliament staff surpasses the cost of payments made to sitting members of parliament.
Nishan de Mel said the budget estimates published in 2017 place personnel emoluments, (salaries and allowances) of the 844 Parliament staff as the largest cost borne by Parliament.
According to the data, a total cost of Rs. 2,841 million was reported as the Parliament expenditure incurred for 2017.
Nishan de Mel cited the publicfinance.lk platform, which showed that 875 million of that cost (over 30%), was spent on salaries and allowances of parliamentary staff.
In Contrast the total estimated cost for the sitting members of parliament was 730 million – this includes personnel emolument, postal and communication, rents and taxes, fuel, and other expenses incurred on behalf of sitting MPs. A further 196 million was estimated for the retirement benefits of past MPs.
The data further revealed that 7% of the total cost amounting to Rs. 203 million was spent on the Office of the Speaker.
Economist Nishan de Mel shared the statistics in response to the recent video shared by MP Harsha de Silva on the controversy meal supplied in Parliament.
Recently, objections were raised by newly elected MPs after a Parliament official claimed that the lunch supplied for per Parliament sitting costed Rs. 3000 per MP.
Thereafter, Speaker of the House Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena clarified that the meal was supplied at a cost of Rs. 296 per MP. (NewsWire)
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