Members of Parliament (MP) Adoor Prakash, Hibi Eden, Chandra Sekhar Sahu on September 16 raised questions about the alleged dissolution or withholding of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds during the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Minister of State the Ministry Of Statistics And Programme Implementation (MoSPI) and the Ministry of Planning, Rao Inderjit Singh said that the Government had not dissolved the MPLADS funds but suspended operations under the scheme for the next two financial years. The Centre gave the funds for FY 2020-21 to the Ministry of Finance to strengthen efforts in addressing Covid-19 related challenges, a notified disaster in the country.

When asked about the response from other MPs regarding this decision, he said that Centre received their references requesting for release of pending installments due from March 31. The dues would be needed to resume ongoing works and clear the committed liabilities under MPLADS.

In reply, the Government has issued detailed instructions on April 8 that requested MPs to possibly change the priority of their earlier recommendations, so that the recommended work can be completed within the funds already available to the district authority. The Minister reiterated that no more funds will be released during FY 2020-21 and 2021-22.

He added that the Ministry issued another circular on May 14 to the nodal district authorities for settlement and closure of savings bank accounts of former MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The unspent balance from these accounts that have remained open even after the completion of 21 months from resignation can be used by the States that require funds as per MPLADS guidelines.

The Minister of State said that the government had received references from concerned Ministers that said the Centre’s decision would impact developmental activities. However, the Government has not conducted any survey to find the extent of the impact on developmental activities and job opportunities in various districts in the country.

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In a surprise move, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has announced that an Ordinance has been passed On April 6 to reduce the salaries of all Members of Parliament. This pay cut will be in place for the next 12 months. The Prime Minister, Union Cabinet, and all other MPs will get 30 per cent less, for a year.

Javadekar did not clarify if only the basic pay will be slashed or if it will also affect all allowances and perks that MPs, and ministers are entitled to. The ordinance, an amendment to Members of Parliament Act, 1954, passed on Monday, comes into effect immediately.

The minister was also reluctant to answer questions about  the amount of money saved with this move but said, “it is not about saving,” but the salary cuts were about “the message, and the will of the MPs”. Was it mere optics then? All the minister would say was “it gives the right signal.”

He added that apart from the ordinance reducing salaries of MPs salary, constitutional heads, right from President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and many state governors and lieutenant-governors have sent letters and said they too will voluntarily decide to take a similar pay cut as a “social responsibility”.

This money will now be put in the “Consolidated Fund of India,” Javadekar said.  The financial news portal money controls explains that the “Consolidated Fund of India is the term used for the total revenue collected by the government through taxes and expenses incurred in the form of borrowings and loans.”

Javadekar also announced that the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADs) fund have also been discontinued for the next two years. Under the MPLADS funds are allocated by the government for each member of parliament to undertake development projects in various one or more districts. This amount, to the tune of  Rs 7900 crores will also be put in the Consolidated Fund of India.

According to the MPLADS website, each constituency is entitled to get Rs. 5 crore annually under this scheme. “Lok Sabha Members can recommend works within their Constituencies and Elected Members of Rajya Sabha can recommend works within the State of Election… . Nominated Members of both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the country,” the rules are clear.

It is too early to say, but the buzz is now building if government employees may also have to take some kind of a pay cut. Most of them have already contributed one-day’s salary as a gesture of solidarity in the fight against Coronavirus pandemic.

Coincidentally, April 6 is also the 40th foundation day of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A majority of Parliamentarians today are from the BJP.

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The shocking fact came in a response to an application filed under Right to Information (RTI), the response to which was sent on June 30, 2018.

The response addressed to applicant Anuj Verma from Kannauj district of Uttar Pradesh, stated that no development works conducted in the four villages adopted by Narendra Modi have been budgeted from the funds allocated under Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). 

The Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) states that all Members of Parliament have to adopt villages in their constituency and to develop the same as a modern village. The MPs must adopt a minimum of three villages in one tenure.

As the official website of SAGY states, “Since the SAANJHI has activities cutting across different spheres, in order to implement the Scheme successfully close coordination and convergence will be required across different Ministries, departments, Schemes of the Government of India, MPLADS, State Government and the private sector,” the cost of developing a modern village under SAGY would come from different resources including MPLADS.

It further states, “Tied and untied funds for e.g. untied resources of the Gram Panchayats like own revenue, Central and State Finance Commission grants etc must be used to optimize implementation.”

In one​​​ of his address​es​, PM Narendra Modi himself said that an MP is unable to unify the expenditure of MPLADS, therefore the SAGY scheme would help him in focusing his funds in a single village in developing it as a modern one. But, apparently, Narendra Modi himself has failed to do so. He first adopted Jayapur on November 7, 2014, then Nagepur on February 16, 2016, Kakarahiya on October 23, 2017, and lastly Domri on April 6, 2018. All of the works in four villages have been done by the private authorities, government banks, state-level institutions, and some central government bodies, locals informed TwoCircles.net.

For instance, a Gujarat-based firm has constructed all the bio-toilets in Jayapur, and Vedanta group has constructed one Anganbadi Centre in Nagepur village. The solar street lights have been installed by various public banks. 

The RTI response and the issue followed has given an edge to the opposition. The leaders of Congress have started raising this debate on Social media. Ajay Rai, the former Congress MLA from Varanasi and opponent to Narendra Modi in Loksabha 2014 has told media that it is unfortunate that MP has not spent a single penny in developing the village he has adopted. Rai further said, “Most of the works done by the private companies in these villages are to please Narendra Modi, rather make the villages modern,” he told TwoCircles.net.
 

RTI-Response to Modi’s adopted villages. (Photo: TwoCircles.net)
 

Following the RTI revelation, the heads of the adopted villages are refraining to talk to media on the issue, but locally, in the constituency of Narendra Modi, the issue has created a negative vibe for the leading party. 

The MPLADS fund, worth Rs 5 Crore per year, can be utilised anywhere in the constituency of an elected MP. But the opposition voices in Varanasi are accusing Modi of not setting an example before other MPs by not spending his own fund for development. 

Manoj Rai Dhoopchandi, a leader from Samajwadi Party and former Minister of State during the Samajwadi Party regime in Uttar Pradesh, said, “See, if people love someone, they wish to do things for them. The same applies here. Corporates and big industrialists love Narendra Modi so they carried out in the villages adopted by him.

“But by allowing the same, PM Modi did not set an example before other Member of Parliaments. If he would have conducted so many works with his MPLADS funds, other MPs would be motivated. So, he forgot to set an ideal working procedure for other MPs while creating an ideal village,” he added. 

Courtesy: Two Circles

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