New Delhi, March 25 -- A day after it notified a 24% salary hike for members of parliament, the Indian government defended the move as a structured adjustment rather than a discretionary decision.

In a statement on Tuesday the government said the revision, effective 1 April 2023, was based on a mechanism introduced in 2018 that linked MPs' salaries to inflation with the aim of preventing arbitrary increases.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs notification, issued on 24 March, raised MPs' monthly salaries from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.1.24 lakh. The government's statement emphasised that the revision was aligned with the cost inflation index (CII) under the Income Tax Act, ensuring automatic salary adjustments every five years.

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