New Delhi, February 21
It’s the easiest of political pickings and takes just one signature on a blank sheet of paper for a Member of Parliament or an MLA to pocket 10 to 20 per cent of every project they sanction for the much-misused Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme. Consider the following culled from an investigation by The Tribune.

*Sunil Dutt, Congress MP sanctioned Rs 35 lakh for a musical Joggers Park in Andheri West. After it was built, the municipal authorities said the land was earmarked for a road. They were told that when they start building the road they could pull down the park. A complete waste of the taxpayer’s money.

*Sanjay Nirupam, Shiv Sena MP, confirms on record to The Tribune that he was approached by the touts of the building and municipal authorities with an offer that if he picked the projects they wanted from his fund he would get a cut of Rs 25 lakh for the Rs 2 crore MPLAD fund given every year. He refused but says abuse by MPs is endemic and it is the worst kept secret in Parliament.

*Touts are present outside the MLA’s hostel in nearly every state capital and proffer cash on signature.

*Arun Shourie, Minister of Disinvestment during his tenure as Minister for Planning was fighting a losing battle trying to resist pressure from his fellow MPs to up the fund from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore. Finally Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee intervened and rejected the demand.

Typically the racket works like this. On paper a road is earmarked for construction and around Rs 15 lakh is sanctioned. What happens is that the sanction is given for some pot-holed road, which exists. A fresh coat of bitumen is put at a cost of Rs 15,000 and the rest of the sanctioned fund is pocketed. Or take another case, to construct a one-seater public toilet it takes Rs 45,000. On paper a new toilet is constructed while in reality an old toilet is given a cosmetic makeover and a fresh inauguration is arranged with the area MP hosting a ceremony. There are at least 100 cases available with the Comptroller and Auditor-General where funds have been sanctioned for 10-seater toilets while in reality one-seaters are built and the remaining funds are split.

Sources in the CAG, which is in the process of conducting an audit of the scheme, say CAG has so far found “grave discrepancies”. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh top the list of states for the misuse of the MPLAD funds. Nearly 55 per cent of the funds are being misused. Says a senior official. “We are aghast at the level of the misuse and want to bring it to the notice of the Central Vigilance Commission which should ideally direct the CBI to investigate. The fund should be scrapped forthwith or safe guards be built in to prevent misuse.”

As with most government schemes, the MPLAD is technically supposed to be fool proof with the MP only recommending the scheme he wants the authorities to spend the fund on. While this is fine on paper what actually happens is that the municipal and land authorities collude with the MP to get sanctions for non-existent or sub-standard projects with the money being siphoned off and shared. Nirupam told The Tribune that he was asked by a very senior municipal council authority to keep his funds in Mumbai and take a cut of Rs 25 lakh. “I chose to throw them out and use my fund but I really wonder how many MPs would do that” he says. This is the first instance of any MP going on record about the widespread corruption in the MPLAD scheme.