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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Over to the MPs

Over to the MPs

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published Published on May 12, 2011   modified Modified on May 12, 2011
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who scrapped the MLA Local Area Development Fund (MLALAD), has now asked the Centre to make alternative arrangements to implement projects for its parliamentary variant — the MPLAD — in the state. Kumar says the reasons are technical. The MLALAD has been replaced by the Chief Minister’s Local Area Development Scheme, under which a body of engineers will be in charge of executing development works. Thereby the Rural Works Department — earlier in charge of carrying out projects proposed under the MLALAD and MPLAD — has been absolved of such duties.

Kumar’s proposal hardly suggests a game of political one-upmanship, of the 40 MPs in Bihar 32 are from the ruling NDA. Instead of turning this into a limiting controversy of an NDA-ruled state government resisting a Central scheme, this should be seen as an opportunity to open a much-needed dialogue on these contentious schemes. The local area development schemes were both introduced in 1993 to give legislators a stake in their constituencies and to enable them to directly and urgently respond to some of their needs. But from the beginning they invited concern whether an elected representative should be participating in such executive tasks. Also, the schemes have been wracked by allegations of corruption, irregularity and indiscretion. The criticism notwithstanding, the Centre recently decided to more than double the MPLAD corpus to Rs 5 crore per year for an MP — in a clear indication that it is not keen on revoking it.

However, Bihar has started a debate by doing away with the MLALAD and substituting it with a restructured development fund. And now that Kumar has brought the status of the MPLAD within the purview of this debate, Parliament and the Centre must respond in a forward-looking way.

The Indian Express, 12 May, 2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/over-to-the-mps/789176/


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