VP, LS Speaker appeal to MPs to contribute to rehab fund

Vice President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha M. Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra  Mahajan on Monday urged the Members of Parliament (both Rajya Sabha & Lok Sabha) to generously contribute from their Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds for relief and rehabilitation works in flood affected Kerala besides considering to donate their one month’s salary for the same. Both the Presiding Officers of Parliament took the lead by announcing their decision to donate their one month salary for relief works in Kerala.

Naidu and Mahajan met here on Monday evening at the official residence of Vice President and discussed the scale of damage in Kerala before issuing the joint appeal. The two president officers will also write letters to all MPs of both the houses seeking their help in this regard.

Earlier in the day, Naidu discussed with Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh, who is also the Chairman of the MPLADS Committee and senior officials the MPLADS Guidelines and the need to reach out to MPs for their generous contributions for relief works in Kerala. He also spoke to former Deputy Chairman, Prof. P.J. Kurien, who is in Kerala, about the severity of the damage.

As per MPLADS guidelines, if the Government declares a calamity as of ‘severe nature,’ each Member of Parliament can contribute up to Rs 1 cr for relief and rehabilitation works. The guidelines further say that from the day an MP makes such contribution, concerned authorities have to identify relief works in one month time and the same should be implemented within eight months. The Government has declared floods in Kerala as of ‘severe nature.’