Aiyar is right in saying that “some advisory help” can be useful for the MPs but “bridging of the resource gap” can be useful for everyone, and MPs are no exception there. But before offering more resources to them, we need to look carefully at what an MP really costs the nation and how much every hour of Parliament time costs.

The fact is that the Parliament can do whatever it likes and most people will not resent it, provided it is meant for the larger common good. Unfortunately, the experience so far has been the opposite.

There is no doubt that MPs, like everyone else, emerge from society. But since they choose to become “our leaders”, they also become our role models. Consequently, we “the people” expect them to show us the way. Therefore the excuse that society is like this is not available to them to the same extent as it is to us. “They” also need to do something to earn “our” respect.