An MP Gets Rs 10 Cr for 5 year term.Did You ask your M.P?
CAG to review MPLADS again
Under it, An MP Gets Rs 2 Cr Annually For Development Work
Pradeep Thakur | TNN
New Delhi: Members of Parliament will soon get their report cards on development work initiated in their constituencies with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) deciding to review the expenditure of funds released under the MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), sources said.
Bogged down by a number of controversies ever since the scheme started in December 1993, the CAG review assumes importance in view of the fact that in the 14th Lok Sabha four MPs were suspended on charges of irregularities in spending the funds.
However, the CAG review may have come a bit late in the day with the Lok Sabha polls called. If the report card had come a couple of months earlier, it would have enlightened people on how elected lawmakers were spending money that was given specifically to better their lives.
When MPLADS was started, one of its aim was to address the constant complaint of leaders that they had no say in the drawing up of mega government schemes and they could not carry out development work in their constituencies for lack of funds. The CAG review would have given the game away.
The government auditor had first reviewed the scheme in 2001 when MPLADS had come in for severe criticism with CAG pointing out instances where MPs — who have the discretion of recommending work in their constituencies to district authorities — had allegedly diverted funds to private clubs, schools owned by relatives and landscaping of private land. Even the Supreme Court, while hearing a bunch of petitions seeking scrapping of the scheme, had observed a few years ago that the funding pattern of MPLADS adversely affected development schemes as well as the quality of work.
Sources said despite several revised guidelines issued by the government from time to time, leakage of funds continued.
The Rs 2 crore annual payout is deposited directly in each MP’s bank account held in his constituency. Over a five-year term, each MP gets Rs 10 crore which is a huge deposit for a bank in a rural area and smaller towns and cities.
Authorities are also examining the veracity of reports suggesting some lawmakers allegedly rotated deposits from one bank to another while not undertaking any development work for which the funds had been released, thus defeating the very purpose of the scheme.
Under MPLADS, each MP has the choice of suggesting to the district collector works to the tune of Rs 2 crore per annum to be taken up in his constituency.
A Rajya Sabha member can recommend work in one or more districts in the state from where he has been elected while a nominated member may select any one or more districts from any one state in the country.
If the funds released for MLAs and MLCs are combined along with the Rs 2 crore each for about 800 MPs, the amount is a staggering Rs 6,000 crore annually. An MLA or MLC gets Rs 1 crore each.
CAG to review MPLADS again
Under it, An MP Gets Rs 2 Cr Annually For Development Work
Pradeep Thakur | TNN
New Delhi: Members of Parliament will soon get their report cards on development work initiated in their constituencies with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) deciding to review the expenditure of funds released under the MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), sources said.
Bogged down by a number of controversies ever since the scheme started in December 1993, the CAG review assumes importance in view of the fact that in the 14th Lok Sabha four MPs were suspended on charges of irregularities in spending the funds.
However, the CAG review may have come a bit late in the day with the Lok Sabha polls called. If the report card had come a couple of months earlier, it would have enlightened people on how elected lawmakers were spending money that was given specifically to better their lives.
When MPLADS was started, one of its aim was to address the constant complaint of leaders that they had no say in the drawing up of mega government schemes and they could not carry out development work in their constituencies for lack of funds. The CAG review would have given the game away.
The government auditor had first reviewed the scheme in 2001 when MPLADS had come in for severe criticism with CAG pointing out instances where MPs — who have the discretion of recommending work in their constituencies to district authorities — had allegedly diverted funds to private clubs, schools owned by relatives and landscaping of private land. Even the Supreme Court, while hearing a bunch of petitions seeking scrapping of the scheme, had observed a few years ago that the funding pattern of MPLADS adversely affected development schemes as well as the quality of work.
Sources said despite several revised guidelines issued by the government from time to time, leakage of funds continued.
The Rs 2 crore annual payout is deposited directly in each MP’s bank account held in his constituency. Over a five-year term, each MP gets Rs 10 crore which is a huge deposit for a bank in a rural area and smaller towns and cities.
Authorities are also examining the veracity of reports suggesting some lawmakers allegedly rotated deposits from one bank to another while not undertaking any development work for which the funds had been released, thus defeating the very purpose of the scheme.
Under MPLADS, each MP has the choice of suggesting to the district collector works to the tune of Rs 2 crore per annum to be taken up in his constituency.
A Rajya Sabha member can recommend work in one or more districts in the state from where he has been elected while a nominated member may select any one or more districts from any one state in the country.
If the funds released for MLAs and MLCs are combined along with the Rs 2 crore each for about 800 MPs, the amount is a staggering Rs 6,000 crore annually. An MLA or MLC gets Rs 1 crore each.
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