Monday, March 27 2006 15:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Maintaining that no Member of Parliament should occupy any office of profit, Janata Dal (United) President George Fernandes today (Mar 27, 2006) said an office of profit did not stop being so by mere legislation.

"An office of profit does not stop being so by mere legislation. It still remains an office of power and patronage. This gives an unfair advantage to some MPs and MLAs over others," he said in a letter to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi.

Fernandes said MPs and MLAs already had a serious and important responsibility to fulfil to the people and should not be required to face the pressures of another public office.

The NDA Convenor had last week written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggesting that these offices of profit be occupied by those who are presently looking for jobs and are capable of handling jobs designated as 'office of profit'.

"Let Members of Parliament devote their time and energy to do jobs for which they were elected by their constituents. In this process there could be many job openings for those presently jobless," he said in his letter to Singh, which was released to the press today.

In his letter to Dasmunsi, who has been entrusted with the task of eliciting views of various parties on the issue, Fernandes said there was a large pool of capable aspirants both inside and outside political parties who have not contested or won elections, and they could head such offices.

This would expand opportunities for many more people, he added.