MPlADS has been riddled with controversies since it was launched in 1993, because, many a time, funds were invested on worthless projects. The Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana can change all that
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to encourage MPs to divert a part of the funds available to them under the Members of Parliament local Area Development Scheme towards a novel rural development programme, must be grasped by our parliamentarians with both hands, because it offers them a unique opportunity to deploy these funds in a scheme which promises high visibility and which will enhance the aspirations of the rural folk for a better life.
MPlADS has been riddled with controversies ever since it was launched in 1993 because of allegations of favouritism and corruption and the tendency of some parliamentarians to flout the guidelines. The funds allocated under MPlADS, launched in 1993 to enable MPs to have a say in local development, has swelled from around Rs800 crore a year to Rs4,000 crore. This is rather substantial and it is only natural for people to demand that these funds be spent in a manner that is logical, productive and transparent.
Over the years, critics have slammed the scheme because many a time these funds were invested on worthless projects and in a haphazard manner. On the other hand, MPlADS has been a big hit with parliamentarians because they claim that it enables them to “give” back something to their constituents. But, whatever the justification, complaints about misuse have persisted over the years.
The Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana launched recently by Mr Modi, offers MPs an excellent opportunity to convert a couple of villages into model villages and hold them up as examples of the acche din that awaits all other villages and also of worthwhile spending of MPlADS funds. This way, at least some of the negativity vis-à-vis MPlADS can be removed and parliamentarians can redeem themselves in the public eye.
MPlADS is an outstanding example of Indian ingenuity. Although the Westminster model frowns upon the idea of lawmakers entering the domain of the executive, public representatives in India have for long years argued for some say in the development of their constituencies. The first one to cross the line separating the legislature and the executive were corporators of the then Bombay Municipal Corporation, who were allotted a fund of Rs50,000 a year to spend on municipal works in their wards.
This was held up as an example by Maharastra MlAs to get a fund of their own. MPs documented both these cases and got their fund. The scheme places five crore rupees at the disposal of every MP every year and enables him to sanction development-related projects in his constituency. It was formulated when PV Narasimha Rao headed a minority Government that banked on the support of several small regional parties for survival. Given its vulnerability, this Government was keen to appease MPs and the latter put up a strong case for such a fund. Following the launch of this scheme, there was a clamour by MlAs in every State for similar schemes and so we now have MlAlADS all across the country. This is also India’s signal contribution to democracies around the world because at last count over 35 nations had launched the equivalent of MPlADS!
The Prime Minister announced the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana in his Independence Day speech and chose the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Narayan for its formal launch. The aim of the scheme is to improve basic amenities in a chosen village and ensure all-round improvement in the quality of life.
As per the scheme’s guidelines, every MP can identify a village which is to be developed as a model village by 2016 and two more villages for similar development by 2019. Between 2019 and 2024, the target will be stepped up to five villages. The chosen villages should not have any connection to the MP’s family. The Adarsh Gram will be a model village not just in terms of physical infrastructure but also with regards to social justice, cleanliness and gender equality and will also show case transparency and accountability in local self-government. The Government hopes that this will have a snowballing effect in the countryside with rural folk clamouring for such villages and compelling district administrations and public representatives to replicate the scheme. MPs will lead this initiative in their respective constituencies. When completed, each Adarsh Gram will serve as a demonstration village. Mr Modi has set a rather ambitious goal for each model village.
He says unlike other schemes, this scheme “does not look at the beneficiaries as receivers and the Government as the doer.” The Yojana aims to empower the villagers to make choices and provide them with opportunities to exercise those choices. The Scheme will give direction and I am certain that our ingenuous villagers will pave their own path through their hard work and entrepreneurial skills”. It is also distinct from the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana launched some years ago by the United Progressive Alliance Government specifically to address the problem of under-development in villages with high population of persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes. The aim of this programme was rather ambitious as it sought to bring many development schemes to the chosen villages but the delivery remained in the hands of the district bureaucracy. Mr Modi’s plan however is less ambitious, but double in the sense that the supervision of the programme is now in the hands of a key stakeholder, namely the local MP, whose political fortunes will depend on how best he executes schemes of this kind. It will also, willy-nilly trigger competition among MPs in a given region because people in neighbouring constituencies are certain to exchange notes on how ‘Adarsh’ their chosen village is.
The Prime Minister has said that this is not a “rupiya-paisa yojana” but a people’s participatory scheme driven by demand. India has 790 MPs and if every parliamentarian gets into implementation mode, the country will have around 2,400 model villages in three years. When one takes into account the fact that there are six lakh villages in the country, one realises how daunting the task is.
But, the gap can be bridged quickly if MlAlADS funds are pumped in for Vidhayak Adarsh Grams, corporate India chips in with their own contributions and the rural aspirational class pressures the Governments at the Centre and in the States to pump in more investments. The idea, therefore, appears to be pregnant with possibilities. The only question is: Can our MPs trigger the change that rural India has been aspiring for since independence and legitimise their intrusion into the executive’s turf IJ let us wait and watch!