Parliamentarians ready draft bill seeking 100 per cent increase in their salaries.

Byline: Nadir Guramani

A bill seeking an increase of an eyewatering 100 per cent in lawmakers' salaries and other perks is expected to be tabled in the Senate on Monday.

The draft Salaries and Allowances Amendment Bill seeks to increase the Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker's salary from the present Rs225,000 to Rs879,000 - to match the salaries of Supreme Court judges.

It also calls for an increase in the salaries of the Senate deputy chairman and National Assembly deputy speaker to match those of Islamabad High Court judges.

The bill further seeks to increase the salaries of parliament members from Rs150,000 to Rs300,000.

The draft bill also calls for the travel allowance of parliamentarians to be increased to cover the cost of business class air tickets and AC class rail tickets.

It further calls for 25 business class tickets to be allocated for each lawmaker and for the option of these tickets being used by members' spouses and children to travel within the country to be available.

The draft bill is expected to be tabled by PTI chief whip in the Senate Sajjad Toori, Dr Ashfaq Qamar, Dilawar Khan and other members.

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