The government has come up with a big bonanza for all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, as it raised the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) to Rs 5 crore per year.

Earlier, the MPLAD was fund was Rs 2 crore per year. The hike will take effect from April 1, 2011. It would result in an additional expenditure of Rs 2,370 crore a year.

The Planning Commission never agreed to such a steep rise in the MPLAD Fund, which largely remains unused in most cases. However, the government decided to go ahead with the hike.

It would be interesting to see whether the common people will really get benefited from the hike in MPLAD Fund or only the MPs and their aides will derive the yield. The question still stands how the MPs will spend Rs 5 crore in a year when they can’t even utilize Rs 2 crore given to them under MPLAD scheme.