Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Which MPs utilise constituency funds the best? -Neelanjan Sircar

Which MPs utilise constituency funds the best? -Neelanjan Sircar

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Feb 21, 2018   modified Modified on Feb 21, 2018
-Hindustan Times

With the rising costs of campaigns, parties have increasing incentives to field richer candidates with criminal cases against them — precisely those who do a worse job of representing and working for the welfare of their constituents.

Are Members of Parliament (MPs) genuinely interested in giving back to the voters who elected them? Since 1993, MPs have been allotted money under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) to spend as they see fit on public works in their constituencies. In fact, MPs are now given Rs 5 crore per year under MPLADS — but a lot of this money goes unspent. Among those MPs that served a full term in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-2014), only 23% spent all of the funds allotted to them.

One of the most important jobs of political representatives is to work for the welfare of their constituency. Unlike other sources of constituency-level funds, MPLADS is completely standardised in how it is allotted to MPs — unfettered by concerns of party, hierarchy, social status, or seniority. Thus, the utilisation of MPLADS money provides an unadulterated measure of an MP’s willingness and capacity to spend funds on constituency-level development.

Naturally, one is interested in the characteristics of MPs that predict higher or lower utilisation of MPLADS funds. As discussed in my previous column, India has experienced a worrying increase in the wealth of politicians contesting elections, as well as the number of elected politicians facing serious criminal cases. The median wealth of competitive MP candidates has risen seven fold between 2004 and 2014, and the percentage of elected MPs facing serious cases has risen by 75% over the same period.

It is now well-established that wealthier candidates and candidates with criminal cases against them win elections at a higher rate.

By the 2014 national election, the median wealth of the top two finishers in a constituency was more than 20 times that of the median wealth of the other less competitive candidates. Even among the top two finishers, the wealthier candidate was about 5% more likely to win the election. Between 2004 and 2014, those candidates facing serious criminal charges were about 78% more likely to win an MP election than those not facing such charges.

Political scientist Milan Vaishnav identifies two competing narratives on the relationship between electability and these two parameters: wealth and the number of serious criminal cases against a candidate. The “representative” position argues that voters prefer candidates with wealth and criminal cases against them because they have a greater capacity to deliver benefits and public works in the absence of an effective local bureaucracy, as is true in so much of India.

The “organisational” position argues that those with criminal cases against them win because they have stronger ground-level networks to build a campaign organisation, while wealthier candidates are advantaged due to the need to self-finance increasingly expensive campaigns. In short, the representative position, unlike the organisational position, suggests a positive association between these two characteristics of a candidate and the utilisation of MPLADS funds. On the other hand, if wealth and the presence of serious criminal cases is associated with “lower quality” representation, then these characteristics should be negatively associated with the utilisation of MPLADS funds.

Please click here to read more.

Hindustan Times, 21 February, 2018, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/which-mps-utilise-constituency-funds-the-best/story-nFhrRN5WhiQlgDNMjZIUdK.html


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close