Official cars, offices await 36 new NA body chiefs

The chairmen of more than three dozens of standing committees of the National Assembly will get green plate official cars and free of cost 360 litres of petrol apart from some other perks and privileges. Besides the financial and other benefits that they will gain by virtue of being the house bodies’ chiefs, they will be given the monthly salary, allowances and facilities which are admissible to them as MNAs.
Section 13A of the Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) Act says a member elected as chairman of a standing committee will, in addition to the salary, allowances and facilities admissible as a member, be entitled to an honorarium of Rs12,700 a month; the services of a private secretary in basic pay scale (BPS-17), a stenographer in BPS-15, a driver in BPS-4 and a peon in BPS-1; telephone facility in the office to a limit of Rs10,000 a month; office accommodation with necessary furniture and equipment; and 1,300cc car and 360 litres of petrol a month for local use.
The chairmen are allowed to use staff car beyond the municipal limits of Islamabad within the prescribed monthly ceiling of 360 litres of petrol. For this purpose the PSO Fleet Cards issued to them may be used anywhere in Pakistan for obtaining petrol. They will hire private drivers for the journey outside Islamabad at their own, and will be responsible for the restitution of any damage caused to the official cars in the event of any accident that occurs during journey outside the capital.
The section further says no travelling or dearness allowance will be allowed to the staff or driver accompanying the chairman during journey outside the capital. The cost of petrol beyond prescribed ceiling will be borne by the chairmen themselves. No deduction of conveyance allowance will be made to which the chairmen are entitled as member of Parliament. They will get installed official telephones at their Islamabad residences at the government expense and will have exemption of rental and payment of charges of calls up to a maximum of Rs5,000 per month.
When contacted for opinion, Tahir Hanfi, who retired as the additional secretary of the National Assembly, told South Punjab News that most of these facilities are akin to those available to civil servants of Grades 21 and 22. He said the chairmen of the standing committees need secretarial staff for assistance.
The functional committees of the Senate will deem to be the standing committees. The salaries, allowances and privileges of chairmen and members will automatically be increased by the federal government by notification in the official Gazette in proportion to the raise in the emoluments of the civil servants. Section 13 says a leader of the House and a leader of the opposition, other than the prime minister, will be entitled to the salaries, allowances and privileges as are admissible to a federal minister under the federal ministers and ministers of state (Salaries, Allowances and Privileges) Act, 1975.
The office of the Leader of the House or Leader of the Opposition will not disqualify its holder from being elected or chosen as, or from being, a member of Parliament. The same facilities are available to the heads of the standing committees of the Senate.
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