Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh showing no interest to the Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ramvilas Paswan's recommendation for making mandatory for MPs and MLAs to spend 20 per cent of their development funds for the treatment of families of below poverty line (BPL) in the country.
Paswan had in May this year recommended to the Prime Minister to make it mandatory for MPs and MLAs to spend 20 per cent of their development funds for the treatment of diseases related to heart, cancer and kidney for families of below poverty line (BPL).
Paswan had pleaded that this scheme can be a great help to treat members of poor families in the country without any additional burden on the national exchequer. There are more than 750 MPs, both belonging to Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and thousands of MLAs in the states. While an MP gets Rs two crore under the MP LAD Scheme for the development of his constituency, an MLA gets Rs one crore for the development of his area in a year.
"No response has come from the PMO so far on this recommendation", said a chemicals ministry official.
The Paswan's dream project would have brought hundreds of crore of rupees to the treatment of BPL families. Though the details were not finalized, the Minister had recommended that in the first phase, the fund should be utilized for the treatment of diseases related to heart, cancer and kidney as treatment for these diseases are too expensive to a family that falls under the BPL category.
It may be recalled that though the MP LAD scheme and MLA LAD scheme has been there in existence for some time now, there were complaints of its under utilization by most of the MPs and MLAs. So, if the government gives its nod for Paswan's brainchild, it will go a long way in helping hapless poor families in the country.
Before sending the final recommendation to the central government, the scheme was discussed in detail in the Pharma Advisory Forum meeting held on May 15 and Pharma Consultative Committee meeting held on May 17.