Past instances show that some of the laws were passed by Parliament while many lawmakers said yes without being unaware of their future consequences

The perks and allowances of lawmakers had remained overdue for over 20 years.

Whatever the salary, perks and other allowances the lawmakers have been collecting they seem inadequate given the annual inflation and surging market prices of all commodities, transportation and fuel costs.

Those who hail from outside the capital and live in the rented houses face difficult time coping with their daily expenses as the salary and other allowances they receive from the government coffers hardly meet their basic requirements.

This is the major concern that needs to be addressed justifiably.

Against this backdrop, the Chief Whips of the eight major political parties in parliament held a meeting on Tuesday to amend the Bill related to perks and facilities to the lawmakers tabled recently by the government to make a timely adjustment.

Besides the monthly salary, the lawmakers are also supposed to receive allowances for house rent, communication expenses and full house or committee meetings.

The meeting of the Chief Whips has sought more facilities than actually proposed in the Bill which is under consideration in parliament.

The Bill has proposed providing Rs. 80,000 to each lawmaker that includes salary, house rent, communication expenses and meeting allowance.

The Chief Whips of the major parties had demanded that a lawmaker be given Rs. 23,000 as house rent per month. But the Bill has however proposed Rs. 18,000 only.

The Chief Whips want to raise the allowances for house rent and communication from the proposed Bill.

The lawmakers have argued that the cost of house rent and expenses for communication – telephone and newspapers included – has surged over the years.

Others have also demanded allowance for one-time purchase of furniture of up to Rs. 15,000.

Undoubtedly, the lawmakers deserve higher perks and other facilities given the constant price hikes in all sectors.

However, it should not have taken such a long time to review the salary and allowances of lawmakers. They deserve a decent living as they represent their constituencies, and they also need to visit the electorate frequently.

In private, most lawmakers complain that they find it very difficult to run their family and daily life as about 15 percent of their salary is cut by their parties, a major source for running the party organizations.

While it is justifiable to raise the perks and allowances for the lawmakers it is also equally important to enhance the lawmakers’ efficiency and capability.

This is likely to be useful for making laws without being biased or influenced by any lobbyists or interest groups who always want to serve their vested interests through legal provisions that may be detrimental to public interests.

In order to enhance their efficiency and make them experts in the fields that they choose the parliament must set up a permanent body of experts in myriad fields who can educate the lawmakers about the process of making, amending and repealing laws.

Past instances show that some of the laws were passed by Parliament with little knowledge of lawmakers about their future consequences.

The lawmakers should be trained to enable them to enact laws for the greater good of the nation.

Well done!

Now finally Nepali players playing for the national side have succeeded in claiming the AFC Solidarity Cup in Malaysia on Tuesday which is something to cheer about for the players and the football fans in Nepal.

Saujal Shrestha scored a solitary goal to win the title after heading home a pass from Bharat Khawas in the 29 minute of the final match against Macau. The victory did not come easily.

Moreover, the coach of the Nepali team was not happy with the performance of his players as they did not play up to their ability and could have done better and won by a larger margin.

This is the first title for the national squad in a tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation.

This win comes after the sterling performance of the Nepali side in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup hosted by Bangladesh in January and also after winning the U-23 South Asian title in February.

So far the best performance of Nepal had been reaching the semi-finals in the AFC Challenge Cup in Bangladesh in 2016. By winning the prestigious title, the Nepalese football players have done the nation proud.

We need to focus on the coming SAFF Championship.