LADS unmake MPs

The Tainted 11 have now been joined by the Dodgy Seven, and more sequels of the familiar story of MPs being caught lining their pockets may follow yet. As Parliament’s ethics committees prepare to extend their briefs to reflect ever-emerging examples of moral turpitude, we have just one comment to make on the latest episode: scrap the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) forthwith. It does little good for “local areas”, little good for “development” and, from all evidence, does little good to the reputations of susceptible MPs.

The idea was flawed to begin with. Conceived almost as a bait by then prime minister, Narasimha Rao, to make friends and influence people within Parliament, it stood the constitutional distribution of power on its head. As several distinguished parliamentarians have themselves observed, the MP— who is supposed to supervise government spending—ends up having to be supervised. If the idea was to ensure that government spending was more targeted for better outcomes, that too has not been achieved. How, in any case, can “durable assets” for the good of the nation be created out of the wishes and demands of a motley group of 540 people, each with differing agendas? Indeed, audit reports on the scheme have discovered several irregularities, apart from financial fiddles: for instance, projects have been started and abandoned without being completed, others have lacked synergy with government plans and have proved ineffectual. The only argument in favour of the scheme — that of providing the MP — or even MLAs and MLCs —with some financial autonomy to make a difference in his or her region — is considerably weakened by the dismal evidence on the ground.

It is not surprising, therefore, that many senior parliamentarians, including the Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition, have come to the conclusion that MPLADS, on balance, does more harm than good. In fact, there have been many MPs who find handling the two crore rupees that come their way every year an albatross around their necks. End this farce, therefore, and put the money to better use.