'Powerless in Constituency': MPs Urge Govt to Restore MPLAD Funds Suspended Last Year Due to Covid

At the meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on the eve of the Monsoon Session, Members of Parliament raised the issue of restoring MPLADS (Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme), which were suspended last year for two years so that the government could use them in Covid-19 management efforts.

MPs told the Speaker that without the MPLAD funds, they were “powerless and helpless in their own constituency”. The Speaker agreed to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said time was needed for it to be restored.

All MPs, PM Modi and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and President Ram Nath Kovind had taken salary cut of 30% due to the impact of Covid-19.

Floor leaders including Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Trinamool Congress’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay, TR Baalu from DMK, Rakhi Mishra from BJD, Ritesh Pandey from Bahujan Samaj Party and Midhun Reddy from YSR Congress attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, without naming Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay raised the issue of the interference of governors in the functioning of a government, according to sources. He said it did not suit the office of the governor to constantly engage in a war of words with the elected government apparently referring to the tense ties between the Bengal governor and chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The MPs also said there were too many bills that the government had listed for the Monsoon Session, which did not leave enough time for them to discuss the issues of urgent public matter.

The speaker assured the leaders that he would try his best to ensure that every party got adequate opportunity to raise the matter they wanted to. Towards the end of the meeting, PM Modi had an informal chat with the leaders and said everyone should work for the productive session of Parliament.

The Monsoon Session of Parliament will begin from tomorrow. At the all-party meeting called by the government on Sunday, the opposition parties raised the crucial issues of farm bills, price rise — especially of petrol and diesel — and also demanded that the government bring in reservation for OBCs in NEET.

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