Political Diary

New Delhi, 21 November 2009

Scrap MPLADS

OPEN LICENCE TO LOOT

By Poonam I Kaushish

Little did singer-turn-novice Trinamool MP Kabir Suman know that he would set the cat among the pigeons by underscoring politico India’s closely guarded secret: The open loot for MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds wherein funds meant for public good are siphoned-off in our netagan’s greedy private pockets. To the tune of mind-boggling crores. Year after year for over a decade. A perfect example of money going down the political drain!

In a tell-all Suman revealed, “Local leaders who already control Rs 400 crore of the panchayat samiti and zilla parishad monies, want the funds and won’t let me spend Rs 1 crore of the Rs 2 crore I receive annually on installing 44 deep tube-wells in my constituency. But what use is that when not a single brick has been laid, not a single tube well has been sunk? I am saying - No! Give me the right to say No. If not, then to hell with our parliamentary democracy and MPship. I do not want to remain an MP!"Suman added.

Coming on the heels of MPs cutting across Party lines wanting the MPLAD be raised from Rs 2 to Rs 4 crore annually it once again demonstrates the immediate need to scrap the scheme. In fact, Suman is not the first MP to accentuate our netagan’s greed. Remember, Pawan Bansal now a Minister who was constrained to resign as Chairman of Committee on the MPLADS scam in 2006 for granting Rs.5 lakh for a Squash court at the Chandigarh Golf Club from his MPLADS and thereafter was granted the club’s membership. And the media expose which caught seven Right Honourables seeking bribes for doling out contracts under the MPLADS.

What to speak of, BSP supremo Mayawati directing her MPs to part with a part of the “commissions” they made from their MPLADS funds for party coffers in 2003.  She told them: “Arre bhai sub miljul kar khao”.  Adding that even the most honest MP makes Rs 5 lakh annually by sitting at home! Also, the hullaballoo over Navin Chawla’s appointment as Election Commissioner for accepting funds from senior Congress MPs for two private trusts run by his wife and him. Proving beyond doubt that the MPLADS is being brazenly abused by one and all.

Launched in 1993 MPLADS was to facilitate MPs to take up development work in their constituencies, according to local-based needs, and create durable assets. From Rs one crore per year per MP in 1994-95 the amount was increased to Rs.2 crore in 1998-99. Under the Scheme, the funds are spent through the District Magistrate/Collector of the concerned constituency on the recommendation of the MP of the area. The DM/DC floats tenders, allots the contract and pays the contractor for work done.

So far so good. But in reality it has turned out quite the opposite. In a country which breathes bribe no work is done without palms being greased and ‘cuts’ incorporated into the cost and commission paid to those who matter. An MP in connivance with the DM ensures a cut out of every scheme recommended by inflating the cost and taking kickbacks from the contractors. The babu is happy and he makes the MP happier. A smart duo nets up to a maximum of Rs one crore of Rs 2 crore and an honest duo a minimum of Rs 50 lakhs. Asserted one, it is a "kind of financial rehabilitation package for the political cadre." For their “protection”, or for other “services”.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG), was the first to expose the failure of MPLADS and the drain it is on the Exchequer in its two reports pertaining to 1993-97 and 1997-2000. In a strong indictment it lucidly stated that implementation of the scheme had gone from bad to worse since its inception. The funds were released without any correlation with their end use. The DM failed to obtain the utilisation certificate and inflated the expenditure to the Ministry without any checking.

Not a few cases were found where money was sanctioned for maintenance of roads where none existed. There was underpayment of wages, fake muster rolls and bogus expenditure to the tune of 30 per cent. All one needed was to pay a price and the money was yours for the asking. The CAG, which studied 111 constituencies across the country, found out that expenditure of Rs.161 crores was not supported by any document. Bluntly, nothing to suggest that the development work had been undertaken at all.

Further, it found that even where there were documents to support execution, in 33.12% of the cases the implementing agency did not refund the "unspent" money. That money was spent on religious places and memorials, not permissible under the guidelines. Worse, there was a decline in work undertaken under the scheme. From 89% during 1993-97to 86.41% in 1997-2000. More. The amount of work completed fell from 56.13% in 1993-97 to 39.22% in 1997-2000.

Clearly, there was nothing right with the Scheme. In fact, the loot system has been perfected to such an extent that it could detect only 13 cases of suspected fraud and misappropriation of funds in 7 States involving Rs 118.36 crore, irregular sanction of loans, grants and donations totalling Rs 81.45 lakhs and discrepancies in cash books in 10 States. According to the Statistics and Programme Implementation Ministry, which administers the scheme, till January last, of the total amount Rs 19,281 crore released since 1993 only Rs 17,538 crore was spent. Arguably, if there is an unspent balance of Rs 2,154 crore till September, why ask for more?

Shockingly, what is the logic of giving MPLADS to Rajya Sabha MPs who are chosen by respective State Legislatures and do not represent any particular constituency unlike Lok Sabha MPs, who are elected by the people. Thus, the monies can be spent on anything and everything a MP takes a fancy to. Even buying a private plane or helicopter to zip around the State!

Tragically, these findings make no damn difference to our polity. True, various committees have recommended a "thorough review" of the Scheme in view of the serious irregularities in its implementation, but successive Governments have done little to plug the loopholes and prevent the improper use of thousands of crores of public money in the name of development. 

Importantly, the Planning Commission and the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution too suggested that the scheme be discontinued as it was inconsistent with the federal spirit, encroached on areas under the Panchayati Raj institutions and that local areas development of was the prerogative of the State Government and not the purview of the MPs.

What next? It is time to have a serious rethink on continuing the scandalous MPLADS. As the CAG reports have highlighted no purpose is being served. It is virtually throwing away good money on rotten eggs. Wherein being an MP has today become a lucrative and paying proposition. A Lok Sabha MP is elected for a five-year term and that of the Rajya Sabha for six years. At Rs 2 crore per year, a Lok Sabha MP has Rs 10 crore at his disposal and the Rajya Sabha MP Rs 12 crore. In our increasingly corrupt-criminal polity, this money is the icing on their MP cake. A hefty fortune to tide over any twists and turns in their political career.

In sum, even as our Right Honourables mull over doubling their hefty MPLADS  packet to Rs 4 crore per year, it is time to apply the brakes. The fund must be scrapped and some Rs.1590 crore saved annually from going down the drain. Morally, Parliament has to come clean on MPLADS. The public need to know how it has been (mis)used all these years and what is being planned to correct it. Enough is enough. – INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)