Revive MPLAD scheme in its true spirit and release funds, Om Birla urged

New Delhi (TIP) : Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday, May 27, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to restart the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme and make MPLAD funds available to MPs. Chowdhury said it is critical to have access to MPLAD funds because of the second wave of Covid-19 and the devastation caused by the cyclonic storm Yaas that made its landfall in Odisha and impacted neighboring Bengal. The MP from Bengal said the funds are the “only way” by which “the Members of Parliament can truly come to the aid of their constituents in their hour of grief and extreme need”. “While the second wave of the pandemic has brought unimaginable miseries, the people of Odisha and West Bengal are on the verge of facing the devastating affects of Yaas. The critical impact the cyclonic storm would have on the intensity of the pandemic in West Bengal and Odisha in particular remains to be seen in the coming days. There is a distinct possibility of a significant increase in the Covid-19 infection rate in the region in the coming days,” Chowdhury wrote. He said the funds should be made available without any restrictions so that the “amounts are rightly channeled to address the health care needs of the people in these uncertain and extremely sad times”.