By H H Mohrmen
Signs of the times
One realises that elections are around the corner when the media is replete with news related to MLAs and their schemes. During this season Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) take the limelight and start appearing in the news on a regular basis. Newspapers and media outlets overflow with reports of MLAs donating ambulances, chairs, utensils, trucks and what have you to the communities. Some MLAs also distribute grants to the dorbar Shnong. Even faith-based organisations receive grants to support their respective community projects like schools, orphanages etc. The MLA scheme has no doubt benefited many communities and faith groups, but is also not free from criticism. It is also time to take stock and examine the use or rather the misuse of the MLA scheme. It is also time to question how MLAs select the beneficiaries or organisations which will receive the support from the Scheme.
MLA mere disbursers of MLA scheme
Of all the responsibilities that the MLA is entrusted with distributing the MLA scheme is one thing that they take seriously. In fact the MLA scheme is the one important fund that MLAs, who are not part of the cabinet, or those who are in the opposition have at their disposal. It is one scheme that enables them to help their constituents, or so the MLAs with a dearth of ideas believe. If the MLA’s job is only to distribute grants and decide how the MLA scheme is being spent then any Tom, Dick and Harry can be an MLA.
Surely it is not so difficult to decide and select beneficiaries for this scheme or any scheme for that matter. After all, the Government now supports and even benefits such as this are being decided along party lines. Beneficiaries are selected based on their allegiance or whether or not they supported or will support the MLA during the election. In most cases the criteria on which the beneficiary is selected is not on merit but rather on which side of the divide the person is.
MLA Scheme is Taxpayers money
The other pertinent issue is the manner in which MLAs treat the MLA scheme. They consider it as their private funds or as if the money for the Scheme is something that they shell out of their own pockets. MLAs and MDCs of all hues and colours have the penchant to have their names inscribed on the items purchased from the Scheme. They ensure that it is written in bold ‘donated by… and the name of the MLA’ on all the items that they provide to the public from this scheme. Isn’t MLA scheme public money, generated from the tax that the citizens of this country pay? And since the time the GST was implemented in the country, everything people buy is taxed. Ironically, in a tribal state like Meghalaya where the rich do not pay income tax, this makes everybody in the state equal. In fact, the Chief Minister or for that matter any tribal millionaire in the state pays the same tax as the daily wage earner or the domestic helpers or even the beggars in the streets.
It is therefore wrong for the MLA to treat the poor as ‘mere beneficiaries’ and consider themselves as benefactors when they also pay as much tax as all of us citizens and other tribal officers do. The poor contribute to the public exchequer too because they also pay tax every time they buy salt, dal, oil, soap and other essential items for their daily use. They also pay tax when they travel on a bus, taxis or use any public services, so why are public representatives acting like they are being generous when they distribute the MLA Scheme?
The Timing
The timing that the MLAs choose to distribute the Scheme also needs to be questioned. The time before the election is the busiest for the MLAs as they are busy deciding the beneficiaries and how the Scheme is going to be distributed. The question is why do MLAs have to wait till the eleventh hour to distribute schemes to the people? The simple answer is – to influence the voters! There is no other reason other than that. But the other pertinent question that is not being asked is – Isn’t it wrong to use public money to influence voters?
The public should remember that public representatives who only provide MLA Schemes before the election are non-performing MLAs. They have wasted precious time sitting idle the last four years and wake up at the fag end of the term. More importantly they are not only non-performing MLAs but they have ulterior motives too. They say public memory is short, so the timing needs to be perfect and what better time to distribute the grants than just before the election? If the main objective is to influence voters’ decision then the question is – Can public money be used this way? Is this fair or is it even legal to use public money for personal gain and does this not amount to buying votes? Whatever the reason it is for the delay, it is but a sign that the public representative is not able to perform and does not have anything other than the MLA Scheme to fool the voters with.
Monitoring and evaluation
The other question that nobody asks is the impact the MLA scheme has on the public at large. Has any study been done to understand the impact that hundreds of crores of money channelled via the MLA Scheme has had on the public. How have people benefited from the scheme? For instance what kind of service did the hundreds of ambulances provide to the public? How many times a year was it being put to use? How long or how many years did the organisation run the ambulance service? In case the organisation has collapsed, does the property go back to the Government or does it become private property?
The respective Block Development Officers do monitor how buildings constructed from the Scheme are implemented but what about other items purchased using the Scheme? Is there any kind of monitoring done to ensure that the money is used for the purpose that it was meant for? Did the target groups benefit from the intervention?
With the funds supported from the MLA Scheme, private and even schools run by faith groups have fancy buildings and are better equipped compared to government schools but they pay the teachers a pittance. While the government pays good salaries to its teachers, the irony is that the facilities in the schools are lacking. In most private projects run with the support of the government, be it schools, orphanages etc., the employees of these institutions are always at the receiving end. The objective of having better school infrastructure is a noble one but the ultimate goal of having quality education becomes futile if the management pays peanuts to the teachers.
The question that needs answers is why do the MLAs have to resort to just becoming disbursers of the MLA Scheme? Isn’t there another way of spending the money which will have major impacts on the public?
Engage and Empower
Democracy is healthy and strong when people actively engage in the democratic process. Then why are communities not engaged in deciding how the scheme is used. Why is the MLA given the sole authority to decide on how the scheme is used and to select the beneficiaries at his or her own whims and fancy? The duty of the leader is to encourage the public to engage in the democratic process and when they are engaged in the process, they feel empowered. And empowered constituents are enlightened citizens.
Enlightened citizens will emerge when MLAs engage the constituents in the decision making at every stage of the democratic process. This will help the citizens understand that when MLAs provide help to the people they are not doing the voters a favour, but only providing them what is rightfully theirs. Public who are aware of their rights will also not allow MLAs to claim ownership of the Scheme because it is public money which is rightfully theirs. Enlightened citizens will also understand that their role in a democratically run country does not start and end with the election. And faith groups also have a big role to play in educating, empowering and enlightening the members of the community. Because democracy without constant public participation is not real democracy.
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