The Hindu Business Line : MPs, MLAs may get to use local area fund to treat the poor

New Delhi May 15 Members of Parliament and members of legislative assemblies may soon be able to spend money from their local area development fund for the medical treatment of seriously ill poor people in their constituencies. Twenty per cent of the fund may be earmarked for the treatment of seriously ill poor patients residing in the constituency of the MP or MLA concerned.

However, currently there is no legal provision to use the fund for such medical treatment. The proposal must first be approved by the Cabinet and then placed in Parliament before any decisive step can be taken.

The proposal is likely to be sent to the Cabinet by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, which is the nodal Ministry for the pharmaceutical industry.

"The proposal had come up at the meeting of the Pharma Advisory Forum which comprises the Health Ministers and the drug controller of various states and non-government organisations. We would be recommending the same to the Cabinet after necessary formalities. By this, while more funds could be made available for the health of poorer sections of the population the Government would not be burdened with any extra expenditure," the Minister for Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters here on Tuesday.

At present, each MP gets Rs 2 crore annually as local area development fund (MPLAD) while for the MLAs (MLALAD) the amount varies from State to State.

"By a rough estimate, around Rs 300 crore could be made available from the MPLADs only. The contribution from the MLALADs, when added to this, would total to quite a large amount," he said.

According to the proposal, the fund would not be given directly to the patients. "In the case of sick persons, after a Government hospital has given the estimates of the expenditure required, the amount would be sent directly to the hospitals," he said.

According to Mr Paswan, this would also help in better utilisation of State resources. At present, most of the funds go towards building activities or road making and the like. "Consequently, a substantial chunk gets diverted as commission. But when you pay directly to a Government hospital as cost of treatment, there is no way that the funds could be misused," he said.

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