End to Bihar LAD fund might face opposition

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In a radical initiative to curb rampant corruption in Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar has proposed and managed to persuade his Cabinet to put an end to the legislators’ local area development (LAD) funds. But the proposal is likely to face opposition from within the two ruling parties, JD(U) and BJP.
The state Cabinet, after agreeing in principle on Friday to abolish the `1-crore being given annually to each of Bihar’s 243 MLAs and 75 MLCs for development work in their areas, has fixed Tuesday to formulate an alternative mechanism to ensure legislators’ voices on the development needs in their constituencies. Even as the proposal was largely hailed as a positive move, even by many in the diminished Opposition parties, muted disagreements surfaced on Saturday as some leaders of the two ruling parties said the move could hit local development work. Sources in both the JD(U) and the BJP said more such voices could be aired in the coming days.
Mr Kumar has reasoned that the use of the LAD funds at the discretion of individual MLAs and MLCs in Bihar has traditionally been “breeding massive corruption and earning it a bad name”. Just days after he made it mandatory for all the ministers, MLAs and government officials — from class one to three — to annually declare their assets, Kumar, who had made corruption abolition an election issue, put forth the proposal for LAD abolition and claimed it had broad support of the legislators. Many legislators from all the parties initially expressed dismay, though none spoke openly against it.
While most legislators of the JD(U) and the BJP opined that they should have been consulted before the matter was discussed in the cabinet and a decision was reached, JD(U) Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha, so far considered close to Mr Kumar, said on Saturday that the proposal “needs reconsideration”.
The main Opposition party RJD described the government’s latest anti-corruption moves including LAD fund abolition as “mere eyewash”. The LJP strongly opposed the LAD funds abolition, saying it would amount to “violation of the legislators’ rights”.
The Congress welcomed the abolition of the LAD funds.