Kerala MPs wary of Modi’s village plan
Developing only three villages from MPs fund would be seen as discriminatory
By : Gilvester Assary
Update: 2014-10-12 06:26 GMT
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After the Shashi Tharoor swachh bharat episode, Congress MPs from Kerala seem to be wary about commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious village development project under Saansad Adarsh Garma Yojana. When contacted, Kozhikode MP M K Raghavan said he was not in a position to comment on the issue as details were still awaited.
“I have not received any communication from the Central Government so far. Moreover, many development programmes were implemented during the previous government's time so it is not first of its kind,’’ he said.
Wayand MP M I Shahnawaz echoed similar sentiments. “IT will be a good programme if the attempt is to uplift villages. But Congress also brought many rural development programmes and even MNREGA was targeted at rural people. For the moment we don't have any idea about his plan,’’ he said.
The lone CPI member in Lok Sabha and Thrissur MP C N Jayadevan said developing only three villages from MPs fund would be seen as discriminatory.
“This morning I went to two villages and at both places the panchayat presidents wanted me to adopt their areas. So choosing villages would be a difficult task,’’ he said and added that there was no clarity on the funding of the project.
Kollam MP and RSP leader N K Premachandran said he was for decentralised development. “If MPs are asked to spend money from MPLAD funds then it will not hold good.
The MPLAD fund is meant for entire constituency and spending it only on three villages could create problems. But if the Centre provides special financial package or SPVs for developing model villages then it is welcome,’’ he said.