Around Rs 200 crore was spent on salaries, allowances and facilities for Rajya Sabha MPs over the last two years with around Rs 63 crore spent on their travel alone.
According to an RTI reply, in 2021-22, in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, the exchequer spent over Rs 97 crore on Rajya Sabha members.
The amount includes Rs 28.5 crore on domestic travel and Rs 1.28 crore on international travel. Salaries amounted to Rs 57.6 crore, medical bills of Rs 17 lakh and office expenses of Rs 7.5 crore. It also spent Rs 1.2 crore on information technology assistance to the MPs.
In the 2021-23, Rs 100 crore was spent in total which included Rs 33 crore in domestic and foreign travel expenses, according to the reply by Rajya Sabha Secretariat to a query filed under the Right To Information (RTI) Act by Madhya Pradesh-based Chander Shekhar Gaur.
The Rajya Sabha Secretariat has said that during 2022-23, Rs 58.5 crore was spent on the salaries of members, while Rs 30.9 crore on domestic travel and Rs 2.6 crore on foreign travel.