Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar headed the first meeting of the Election Commission (EC) on Friday, 20 May, after taking up the post on 15 May. During the meeting, the commission unanimously decided to "voluntarily curtail perks and privileges" given to top officials.
Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey was also present during the meeting.
The EC reviewed perks and privileges available to the CEC as well as the election commissioners, including income tax exemptions given to them on sumptuary allowance.
The CEC and election commissioners are currently entitled to a monthly sumptuary allowance of Rs 34,000, on which there is no income tax payable.
It was unanimously decided by the commission that the CEC and the election commissioners will not take any income tax benefits presently given to them. It was also decided that the proposal for appropriate action would be sent to the Centre.
Further, the CEC and the election commissioners will avail only one Leave Travel Concession (LTC) in a year instead of the three currently available to them.
Kumar was appointed CEC on 12 May and succeeded Sushil Chandra to take up the post on 15 May, after the retirement of the latter. He was appointed as an election commissioner on 15 February, 2019.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)