Indian Express: Lucknow: Wednesday,
March 27, 2013.
Last month,
when the state government barred legislators from disbursing funds from the
Vidhayak Nidhi the MLAs’ local area development fund to institutions run by
them or their family members, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari was most critical
of the decision, terming it as “against the rights of MLAs”.
Now, an RTI
filed by The Indian Express has revealed that Tiwari sanctioned over Rs 1.40
crore from his Vidhayak Nidhi to a school run by him Intermediate College,
Sangramgarh and a college run by his daughter
Saryu Indira Mahavidyalaya, Sangramgarh in the last five years.
While Tiwari,
the Congress MLA from Rampur, is the manager of Intermediate College,
Sangramgarh, his daughter, Aradhana Mishra, is the manager of Saryu Indira Mahavidyalaya,
Sangramgarh.
· In
2007-08, Tiwari sanctioned a total of Rs 1.23 crore from his Vidhayak Nidhi, of
which Rs 25 lakh was given to Intermediate College, Sangramgarh, for
“construction of rooms”.
· In
2008-09, he sanctioned a total of Rs 1.19 crore from his Vidhayak Nidhi. Of
this, Rs 25 lakh was given to Saryu Indira Mahavidyalaya, Sangramgarh, and Rs
2.5 lakh to Intermediate College, Sangramgarh.
· In
2009-10, a total of Rs 1.21 crore was released from Tiwari’s Vidhayak Nidhi, of
which Rs 25 lakh was given to Saryu Indira Mahavidyalaya and Rs 5 lakh to
Intermediate College, Sangramgarh.
· In
2010-11, a total of Rs 1.13 crore was released from Tiwari’s Vidhayak Nidhi, of
which Saryu Indira Mahavidyalaya received Rs 25 lakh and Intermediate College,
Sangramgarh, got Rs 5 lakh.
· In
2011-12, Tiwari sanctioned a total of Rs 48.54 lakh from his Vidhayak Nidhi, of
which Rs 25 lakh was given to Saryu Indira Mahavidyalaya and Rs 3.30 lakh to
Intermediate College, Sangramgarh.
While MLAs
were earlier allotted a total of Rs 1.25 crore per year as their Vidhayak
Nidhi, the amount was increased to Rs 1.50 crore per year in 2012.
Although
several other schools were also sanctioned funds from Tiwari’s Vidhayak Nidhi,
the largest amounts were given to Saryu Indira Mahavidyalaya (Rs 1 crore) and
Intermediate College, Sangramgarh (Rs 40.8 lakh) in the last five years.
When
contacted, Tiwari, a nine-time MLA, said: “There is nothing wrong in
legislators giving their local area development funds to the institutions run
by them. I think that education should be given priority. I give 90 per cent of
my funds to schools and colleges. I have always said that MLAs should be
allowed to give funds to their own schools. I have supported this in the past,
and will also do so in the future.”
However, he
claimed that the amount sanctioned to his institutions was less than the figure
obtained under RTI from the district rural development agency of Pratapgarh.
During the
recent budget session, Tiwari had said that the move to bar MLAs from
sanctioning funds for institutions run by them or their relatives should be
withdrawn “immediately”.
As per the
rural development department’s new guidelines, a legislator cannot recommend
allotment of funds to an institution where either the legislator or his family
member hold a post. Moreover, MLAs cannot grant more than Rs 25 lakh per
institution.
In 2011, when
Lokayukta N K Mehrotra had found then BSP minister Anees Ahmed guilty of giving
over Rs 25 lakh to an institute run by his family members and wanted to
recommend an amendment in the guidelines for sanctioning funds from the
Vidhayak Nidhi to avoid “misappropriation” of public money, Tiwari had moved a
resolution in the Assembly to restrain the Lokayukta from making any such
recommendation. Tiwari was then leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the
Assembly.
The
guidelines for the Centre’s MPLAD fund also state that “funding is not
permissible to a society/ trust, if the recommending MP or any of his family
member is the president/ chairman of the society in question.”
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