Manmohan Singh Writes to PMO, Amit Shah Over Retinue Downsized; Reminds Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Case
The Union Home Ministry and PMO had a rough day after it received an angry letter by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after the Centre decided to reduce his retinue.
New Delhi, June 27: The Union Home Ministry and PMO had a rough day on Thursday after it received an angry letter by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The ex-PM wrote the letter after the Centre decided to reduce his retinue.
According to the rules and regulations, former PMs receive rent-free accommodation for the rest of their life, medical facilities, 14 secretarial staff, six domestic executive-class air tickets, unlimited train travel, five years of office expenses along with SPG cover for one year and free electricity and water for life. But the MHA had downsized Singh's staff from 14 people to just five. Nirmala Sitharaman Meets Manmohan Singh Days Ahead of Union Budget 2019
Considering the point that Centre has the option to decide whether it wants to give further re-extension after five years, Congress has protested against this move and called this an insult. Now, Singh will retain two peons, two Personal Assistants and one lower division clerk.
In the letter written to PMO and Home Minister Amit Shah, Singh reminded the case of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, PV Narasimha Rao and Indra Kumar Gujral, where former PMs were permitted to expand their staff as per their need.
According to a reply to an RTI in 2013, enquiring about the salary of the Prime Minister of India - the basic salary is Rs 50,000, with a sumptuary allowance of Rs 3,000, a daily allowance of Rs 2,000 and a constituency allowance of Rs 45,000.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2019 09:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).