Take a hike!

Dear Sir,

Today is Rajiv Gandhi's birthday and what a gift you have given to all the MPs!

A 300 per cent rise in their pay packets! Wow! I guess, this is what he must have meant when he said, "to build a new, fuller life for our people".

With 77 per cent of our populace living with a salary of under Rs 20 a day, a lot of people are going to be unhappy about this birthday gift sir.

Vivek Velankar, the president of the Pune-based Sajag Nagrik Manch, a citizens’ rights group, says, “It is like Nero playing the fiddle when Rome was burning.”

“Our MPs clearly don’t deserve a salary hike,” The Times of India screams in a recent editorial.

Any pay rise, the newspaper said, must be linked to performance. “The MPs – well known for shouting slogans and creating mayhem in parliament – have neglected one of their basic duties of crafting and debating legislation,” it said.

I don't agree with them. As long as there is a rise in their accountability towards their mandate, it's okay for them to get a decent wage.

India's social infrastructure challenges are well understood. The biggest ones include accessible, affordable and acceptable (quality) solution for education, health care, drinking water, energy for lighting and cooking, and sanitation.

So, will it be possible now, to include overcoming these challenges in their KRA's and that too by the end of this financial year?

Or, will you be able to provide us with a clear, more plausible time-line for finishing these tasks, year on year basis?

The salary hike will be more than justified if this happens, even incentives and bonuses could be offered...but, for some reason, if you are not sure of the deliverables, then I recommend, that you not only cancel the hike but also strip them of the perks and mansions costing our exchequer billions of rupees, or better still, throw them out of the job as most of us do to the non-performing employees.

Sir, let's celebrate. Now that we have clean governance, a wish that Rajiv Gandhi held very dear to his heart, let's celebrate a new India, a happy India, a safe India.

Are you there?