Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this morning 'Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana' under which each Member of Parliament will choose a village from his constituency to ensure overall development of the village.
On this occasion, my thoughts went back to 1991 when the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme originated and the reason why it was formed. I was the Principal Information Officer and the Information Advisor to the Prime Minister during that period and had an office in South Block.
Members of Parliament who had an appointment with the Prime Minister had to come early. Some used to drift into my office and engage in conversation with me.
Among my tasks was to provide the Government with feedback about the Government's policies and programmes. Soon after taking over, Narasimha Rao had decided to liberalise the economy and bring to an end the licence permit raj.
Steps were taken by Finance Minister Manmohan Singh and Commerce Minister Chidambaram to speed up liberalisation. While the country welcomed the policy, many Members of Parliament were not in favour of liberalisation. I was told by them that businessmen from their constituencies used to come to them and ask for help in getting their projects cleared from the departments in the Commerce and Industry Ministries. They had stopped calling on them.
I was told by the MPs that they could not extend any 'patronage' to their constituencies.
In one of my meetings with the Prime Minister, I indicated to him the views of the MPs. He told me that he was conscious of the problem and was in the process of preparing a scheme where each Member of Parliament could extend help for the development of his constituency.
The projects were to be recommended by the MPs but implemented by the local authorities in the constituency. It had the advantage that it met the needs of the people in the constituencies.
Over the years, the Members of Parliament have used the funds provided under the scheme for projects meant for development of their constituencies, but there have been instances where some have used it for their personal advantage. A controversy had erupted in 2006 when a sting operation named "Operation Chakrayuh" by a media organisation exposed some of them and there was a demand for closing down the scheme. However, that did not happen.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a new focus to the scheme by ensuring that the Members of Parliament will take interest in the development of a village in their constituency by providing facilities for access to health, education and sanitation in the villages.
The 'Adarsh Gram' will be a real model for other villages to raise demands which can be initiated by the MLAs and the cost met by the State Government authorities. There will be a groundswell of demands for development in the country.
Mr I. Ramamohan Rao is a former Principal Information Officer to the Government of India and can be reached by email: raoramamohan@hotmail.
