Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ramvilas Paswan has recommended to the Union government to make it 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. The scheme is yet to be finalized but Paswan's stress is on treatment of diseases related to heart, cancer and kidney.

In his recommendation sent to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Paswan has pleaded that this scheme can be a good source of income for the treatment 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.

If the Prime Minister gives his green signal to Paswan's dream project, it will amount to hundreds of crore of rupees to the treatment of BPL families. Though the details are yet to be finalized, the Minister has recommended that in the first phase, the fund should be utilized for the treatment of diseases related to heart, cancer and kidney as these diseases are too costly to afford 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.