‘Not the only state’: Govt defends MLA nod in aid scheme

The Delhi government has told the Delhi high court that the recently launched Delhi Lakshmi Yojana is not the only scheme in the country that requires beneficiaries to obtain an endorsement from their local MP or MLA, as similar welfare schemes in other states also require recommendations or endorsements from elected representatives

The Delhi government has told the Delhi high court that the recently launched Delhi Lakshmi Yojana is not the only scheme in the country that requires beneficiaries to obtain an endorsement from their local MP or MLA, as similar welfare schemes in other states also require recommendations or endorsements from elected representatives.

The scheme, notified on August 6, provides for financial assistance of ₹2,500 per month to eligible poor women beneficiaries.

The scheme, notified on August 6, provides for financial assistance of ₹2,500 per month to eligible poor women beneficiaries. In an affidavit filed on September 15, the government said that such a requirement on the application form is in no manner either “ultra vires, arbitrary, capricious or dehors” the provisions of any act or regulations.

The affidavit was filed in response to a petition by Abhishekh Dutt and Vedpal Sheetal Chaudhary, former councillors, challenging the conditions for availing the benefit of the scheme, including the production of a lawmaker’s endorsement letter. It will be considered by a bench of chief justice DK Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia on Thursday,

“The present scheme is not the only scheme of its kind in India. The requirement of an endorsement/recommendation of the MP/MLA on the application form is in no manner either ultra vires, arbitrary, capricious or dehors the provisions of any act or regulation. The requirement of a recommendation from an MP/MLA can never be termed contrary to public interest, since Members of Parliament and of the Legislative Assembly play an important role in advancing public interest,” the affidavit stated.

“Thus, where MPs and MLAs have been vested with such powers for a public purpose, there cannot be any iota of doubt that a condition requiring recommendation by an MP/MLA cannot be viewed as ultra vires, arbitrary, or unconstitutional,” it added.

The affidavit has been filed in compliance with the high court’s August 24 direction asking the government to file an affidavit in 10 days explaining the rationale and objective behind requiring women seeking financial assistance to obtain an endorsement letter from the MP or MLA of their constituency, describing the same as “arbitrary”.

The court observed that the scheme was a government scheme, not an MP or MLA scheme. It further said that if the objective behind the requirement was to ensure that only identifiable and eligible persons received the benefit, there were several other ways to verify the same.

The government, the court said, could not simply invoke its “wisdom” to justify the decision, observing that every governmental action must be tested for compliance with the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

In its affidavit, the government also rebutted petitioners’ contention that the stipulated condition was causing difficulty and hardship to beneficiaries seeking to avail themselves of the scheme, pointing to the 732,814 forms it had received to date bearing endorsements from local MPs and MLAs.

“The receipt of such a large number of forms from beneficiaries is a testament to the fact that the condition stipulated under the said scheme is, in no manner, causing any difficulty or hardship to persons seeking to avail its benefit. The challenge to the scheme is, therefore, actuated by mala fides and is not in the public interest,” the affidavit added.