Different limits
MPLADS is constitutionally valid, but is it still worth it?
MPLADS is constitutionally valid, but is it still worth it?
The MPLADS scheme has been assailed for many reasons. And now that the Planning Commission has rationally turned down a demand for a substantial increase in the corpus for the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, it is a valid moment to revisit some of them. A parliamentary panel had asked for each MPs annual budget be hiked from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore. The Planning Commission has emphasised a resource crunch, and it is important to keep in mind the cascading effect that such an increase would have, with state assemblies too seeking enhanced allocation for MLAs. However, the parliamentary committee should also use the opportunity to examine other aspects of the scheme, a debate that had presumably been on hold as the Supreme Court was looking at the constitutional validity of MPLADS.
The Supreme Courts judgment came in May. However, to see the establishment of the schemes legitimacy as closure would be unfortunate. It is interesting that the strongest criticism of the scheme has come from MPs. Among them is Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily. The second Administrative Reforms Commission, under his chairmanship, had recommended that MPLADS be abolished, arguing that it eroded the principle of separation of powers. The scheme aims at enabling MPs to respond to locally felt needs in their constituency with development of durable assets. But its argued that this power to disburse funds and have projects executed blurs the line between the legislature and the executive. There are many firewalls to check corruption, and regulation can be enhanced to check misallocation. There are deeper reasons for concern. MPs are expected to be in a state of permanent vigilance about the responsiveness of local administrations to constituents concerns. Their intrusion into the administrations domain could blunt that. Also, the discretionary power to fund projects puts the burden on MPs to show value for the money, something the local government is better placed to do.
Besides, Parliament has yet to take up a long-overdue examination of sources of conflict of interest. The MPLADS issue should also be embedded in that debate.