Of MPs and their spending allocation

Take the issue of salary cuts of 30 per cent for MPs first. That this will not contribute much by way of money in fighting the spread of COVID-19 is obvious. But tokenism though it may well be, the symbolic importance of a gesture like this cannot be underestimated.

What it does is signal that the nation’s lawmakers (some of who govern us as well) are also making a sacrifice in this fight to reclaim our past and forge a future in the face of a fierce and indeterminate pandemic. Predictably, there hasn’t been so much as a murmur of disgruntlement about the pay cut.

Anything by way of this would be deemed as selfish and venal at a time like this. A spin off effect of this cut has been others such as the President, Vice-President and Governors of States also voluntarily decided to take a pay cut as a part of their social responsibility. It will be no surprise this leads to States enforcing a pay revision for MLAs. What has evoked some rumbling though is the second aspect of the ordinance, that deals with the temporary suspension of the MPLAD (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) Fund for the next two years. The Congress for instance, has welcomed the pay cut but opposed the suspension of MPLAD on the grounds that it undermines the role and the functions of MPs. Overall, however, the criticism has been couched very mildly, probably a result of the awareness of the possible consequences of strongly disparaging the move. After all, it could result in the impression that parties are not fully behind the anti-COVID-19 effort; just as bad, it could make people believe that MPs would go to any lengths to protect their discretionary funds.

And here lies the nub. The MPLAD scheme is questionable for a plethora of reasons, starting with the purely conceptual one. Why should our MPs who perform a legislative function be armed with such executive powers and privileges? Adding to this is the fact that the scheme, which gives each MP a sum of Rs 5 crore to spend annually, has tightened the politician-bureaucrat-contractor nexus, something that has plagued this nation for a long time. Personal and political considerations sometimes come into play when deciding how money is spent. While it may be too much to expect the legislatorclass to give up this privilege indefinitely, the temporary suspension of MPLAD should become the catalyst for a debate for scrapping it altogether.