For trusts and societies, MPs seek unlimited MPLAD funds

When it comes to spending money for development our MPs want no restrictions. Members of Parliament have asked for curbs on their local area development (MPLAD) scheme to be lifted. Chetan Chauhan reports.

Updated on: May 13, 2013, 23:35:09 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

When it comes to spending money for development our MPs want no restrictions. Members of Parliament have asked for curbs on their local area development (MPLAD) scheme to be lifted.

Not stopping there, the MPs also want a change in the "conflict of interest" ambit by redefining their family so that social organizations run, or managed by their kin could also take the benefit of these funds.

The MPs get Rs 5 crore annually under the scheme, but they are unhappy with the ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for limiting sanction of maximum of Rs 1 crore from the fund for building assets in societies and trusts in a year. The condition was imposed earlier this year.

"The trusts and societies which are providing true service to the poor and the needy may be allowed to use MPLADS over and above the ceiling fixed by the ministry," a parliamentary panel on MPLADs said in its latest report.

The MPs say that the district authority - the project implementation body under MPLADs - should be responsible for checking credentials of these organisations.

The MPs also took umbrage at the ministry refusing to accept suggestion of an earlier Parliamentary committee to redefine family of an MP.

This was with respect to restrictions in MPLAD guidelines on allowing funding from MPLAD to trusts and societies, whose members are either from MPs family or are close relatives.

The panel had said in-laws of an MP or their family members should not be included in the definition of the family. "The existing definition of the family is inclusive and is necessary to save criticism of the scheme," the ministry said, in a submission to the panel while rejecting the committee's suggestion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.