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Better abandoned than revised

The four Lok Sabha MPs exposed in the second televised sting operation, on the MPLADS scam, have got off lightly in comparison with the 11 who were expelled from Parliament in December 2005 in the cash-for-questions racket. In recommending that the four be suspended until the conclusion of the budget session, the special committee of the Lok Sabha that went into the allegations was clearly influenced by what it regarded as an important extenuating circumstance. Unlike the expelled 11, none of the four was actually caught accepting cash on camera; the journalistic sting operation only showed them discussing commissions in exchange for handing out contracts under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme. The report of the Committee raises a few pertinent issues. To begin with, there is a divergence between the punishment recommended for the Lok Sabha MPs and that for the two Rajya Sabha MPs, who were also exposed in the MPLADS sting. The Rajya Sabha Ethics Committee that probed the charges against them had recommended the expulsion of one MP and given the benefit of doubt to the other. In justifying its decision to call for the expulsion of the Samajwadi Party's Sakshi Maharaj, the Committee had noted, "It is immaterial whether any money changed hands and whether any commission was actually paid or not" — a position that is totally at variance with the one adopted by the Lok Sabha Committee.

The Lok Sabha Committee has recommended that the Government revise the guidelines governing MPLADS — under which MPs may recommend "works" for "public use" up to Rs.2 crore per annum — with a view to plugging loopholes. In this connection, it has suggested that NGOs and private institutions be barred from receiving any funds under the scheme. The submission misses the central point about MPLADS. The scheme has not been subverted by "unscrupulous" private organisations or suffered because of the existence of some legal lacunae. It has failed because it is inherently wasteful (having consumed more than Rs.14,000 crore cumulatively since its inception in 1993); because it "treads into areas of local government institutions" (as the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution has pointed out); and because it is tailor-made for misuse by those who occupy the legislative bodies in the country. The fact that MPLADS has been a study in abuse was clearly highlighted by two reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, in 1998 and 2001, which strongly criticised the serious irregularities in the manner it was implemented. The sting operation, which revealed the ugly face of corruption, should have acted as a catalyst for giving the scheme a quick and unsung burial. Instead, the Lok Sabha Committee has suggested a mere tinkering of MPLADS and focussed its attention on issues unconnected with its agenda such as asking the Centre to lay down guidelines and norms for those who conduct sting operations.

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