Central haul

Members of Parliament will have a priceless new addition to their long list of perks and privileges if the plans of a parliamentary standing committee on housing fructify. Unusually, the new perk cannot be enjoyed by the Chosen People while still in that state of grace but only later on when they have fallen out of favour with the people. All will not be lost when MPs lose their Lok Sabha seats, for that is precisely when they will qualify for apartments in a proposed new highrise building in a prime location behind Western Court on New Delhi8217;s Janpath. This grand scheme is the outcome of the cooperative endeavours of MPs from all parties to find a solution to the intractable problem of housing a growing army of former MPs who refuse to surrender their official houses and melt away into the sticks. The battle for government quarters has raged long, bitterly and inconclusively, even being taken to the Supreme Court at one stage. Now MPs have hit upon an answer: let the government build more houses.

The thought processes of politicians are always fascinating. Accommodating unelected MPs at government expense is billed as a 8220;humanitarian8221; enterprise because, apparently, beached like whales by too frequent elections since 1996, they can neither return to their constituencies nor stay on in the capital. They need help, a little something to get to grips with life outside Central Hall. Besides, they may be back in the reckoning sooner than anyone suspects. Some are party veterans, others still have important if unspecified services to render. So, why not shovel some taxpayers8217; money their way? Not that it is sheer altruism on the part of sitting MPs. When their turn comes they will need retirement homes as well. As for the prime location, well, the Central government owns acres and can surely surrender a plot for a good cause. It is also important that MPs should live in the ivory towers they have grown accustomed to. Living there, in the well-serviced heart of the capital, they need never know life as itis lived by ordinary citizens.

Who in the face of the all-party consensus on retirement homes for MPs is going to say it is all a waste of public money? Who is going to say, enough is enough? Politicians are the new aristocracy. Their perks and privileges have simply burgeoned with the demand. The only constraint is lack of imagination. Take the innovative MPs constituency fund; neither fully justified or fully accounted for, it has nevertheless doubled in size and become enormously popular with state legislatures which are second to none when it comes to tending to the well-being of their members. The right to grant gas cylinders or telephones out of turn has fortunately withered away on its own as supplies of those goods have increased. But the right some legislators enjoy to get a quota of officials transferred continues. And new perks are being invented all the time. Private clubs in Mumbai may be able to resist the demand that municipal corporators be made members; private clubs in small cities may not be so lucky.