Kathmandu, September 7
A total of 131 federal lawmakers have agreed to donate part of their salaries to support flood victims, according to data available as of Monday. The lawmakers have written to the Federal Parliament Secretariat requesting that specified amounts be deducted from their salaries and contributed to flood relief efforts.
The Federal Parliament consists of a 275-member House of Representatives and a 59-member National Assembly. Of these, 131 lawmakers have so far submitted letters requesting salary deductions for flood victims. According to the Parliament Secretariat, lawmakers from the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Nepali Communist Party have asked the secretariat to deduct specified amounts from their salaries and contribute them to flood relief.
The group includes 38 Nepali Congress lawmakers from the House of Representatives and 24 from the National Assembly. Bhishma Raj Angdembe, leader of the Nepali Congress parliamentary party in the House of Representatives, will donate one month’s salary. Congress lawmakers Gangalaxmi Awal, Rukmini Devi Koirala, Prakash Singh Karki and Mohan Acharya have also agreed to donate one month’s salary each.
Congress lawmaker Tek Bahadur Gurung has pledged Rs 100,000. As one month’s salary is insufficient to reach that amount, he has asked the secretariat to deduct his full salary for one month and the remaining amount from his salary for the following month. All other Nepali Congress lawmakers have agreed to donate 15 days’ salary.
CPN-UML lawmaker Mohammad Ishtiaq Rai has written to the Parliament Secretariat saying he will donate one month’s salary, while other UML lawmakers have agreed to donate 15 days’ salary. The CPN-UML has 25 lawmakers in the House of Representatives and 10 in the National Assembly. Lawmakers from the Nepali Communist Party have also agreed to donate 15 days’ salary. In a letter to the Parliament Secretariat, the party said that 15 days’ salary of lawmakers’ personal aides would also be contributed to flood relief.
The Nepali Communist Party has 17 lawmakers each in the House of Representatives and the National Assembly. Lawmakers from the Rastriya Swatantra Party have also said they will donate half a month’s salary, although their letter has not yet reached the Parliament Secretariat.
Based on the letters it has received, the Parliament Secretariat is preparing to deduct the pledged amounts from lawmakers’ salaries and transfer the remaining salaries to their bank accounts. Secretariat officials said deductions could also be made from the following month’s salary if additional letters are received later. As of Monday, 131 lawmakers from both houses had formally requested salary deductions, specifying the amounts they wished to contribute to flood relief.
