So quickly was it done that many MPs didn't even get a copy of the Bills and those who got them were in English. ``The Hindi copies are being printed. Please waive the Rules for this issue,'' a gracious Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana offered. The rules were waived.

From now on the President gets Rs 50,000 a month, up from Rs 20,000, the Vice-President will take in Rs 40,000 almost thrice the earlier Rs 14,500, Governors will be given Rs 36,000, more than thrice the Rs 11,000 they used to get. All this is taxable, unlike an MP's pay.

MPs will take home Rs 4,000 a month, up from Rs 1,500, apart from10 other perks which have been sizeably upgraded. For example, an MP will now take Rs 400 as daily allowance, a sum many people in the country look to get at the end of a month's labour. Likewise, office expense, secretarial allowance, constituency allowance, single air journeys, free electricity, road mileage, car advance, pension and family pension are all up. Office expense for MPs has been pegged at Rs 2,500 a month, secretarial allowance at Rs 6,000, constituency allowance at Rs 8,000, free one-way air trips at 32, 25,000 units of free electricity a year, Rs 6 a kilometre for road mileage, no matter how much an MP travels, car advance at a lakh, pension of Rs 2,500 a month and family pension at Rs 1,000. Should an MP not use the quota of free air trips, he or she can do so the following year. The common man can only pray for such goodies but still some were not satisfied.

``This is nothing,'' snapped Laloo Yadav loyalist and anti-Women's Bill RJD MP M A A Fatmi. Laloo went two steps ahead: ``It isn'tas if any great wealth is being distributed among MPs'', and ``Add an amendment to the BIll. Make sure an MP can get pension even if he is a member for only 10 days.''

So what if the hike amounts to a whopping 160 per cent raise in MP's salaries. And a mere Rs 18 crore to the nation's exchequer a bulk of which is made up of a citizen's tax money. For good effect, a President's pension now goes to Rs 3 lakh a year, jumping from the Rs 1,20,000 so far.

There was some show of conscience, though, on show. And it came from the Left. ``Let it not be said that we are concerned about ourselves. Throwing away all procedures, the Bills have only now been circulated. Why is there such a sense of impatience and urgency?'' asked CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee.

He was backed by CPI leader Indrajit Gupta: ``I find it highly embarrassing; when everyday we are shedding tears in the House on people suffering from poverty and the next thing we do is vote on our emoluments. The last time we did so, every newspaper in thecountry had editorials hitting out at us.'' Both Left leaders were arguing for an independent authority or institution to fix MP's salaries instead of hiking the pay themselves.``We have been repeatedly requesting that this matter be left to an authority like the Speaker,'' Chatterjee added. L K Advani agreed but others didn't think so. ``The Leftists are progressive people. They worry too much about media opinion,'' offered Laloo. He had an ardent supporter in Congress Bihar MP Rajjo Singh.

``There should be no need for MPs to earn money on the sly or be on the payrolls of big companies. MPs can't even pay their water and electricity bills,'' Singh felt. Laloo was not done yet. ``OK. Let there be a clause that those who don't want the hike can take home their earlier pay,'' he suggested.

Mulayam Singh also added his bit. ``There is too much corruption in our residences. The furniture is old, new stuff lands up in the houses of officers. We have to plead with engineers for proper power supply. Take awaythese house, make them hotels or hostels. Just give us a house rent allowance instead.''

All this, though, may have to wait for a while. For today, the increased wages and allowances were all the MPs would get. And just in case envy grips you, have a heart. Not everybody can grant himself a wage hike.