New Delhi: The new publication is outlining the role played by the Lower House during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the publication oxygen langars, expenditure under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme, commemoration of seven years of Narendra Modi as prime minister, and planting of mangrove trees โ these are among the โbest practicesโ listed.
The book is titled, โMembers of Lok Sabha standing with the citizens innovation and best practices during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-21)โ. The book has been brought by the Lok Sabha secretariat. It is an abbreviated compilation of works that the MPs themselves listed as their contributions towards alleviation of public suffering during the pandemic.
From West Bengal TMC MP, Pratima Mondal, has listed blood donation camps and her work during the cyclones Amphan and Yaas (both of which had caused widespread destruction in eastern parts of India during the second wave). However, her list of achievements also includes โensuring more tree coverage at the shoresโ by planting โ10,000 mangrove saplingsโ under the โSave Sundarbanโ drive.
Bankura MP and Union Minister of State for Education Subhash Sarkar also listed his work during the Yaas cyclone among his Covid achievements, apart from distribution of relief items by the Bharat Sevashram Sangha โ a Hindu organisation focusing on humanitarian work โ in several assembly constituencies in his area.
BJP MP from Biharโs Sasaram, Chhedi Paswan, cited a Rs 1 crore donation from the MPLADS fund, a contribution of Rs 1 lakh from his own pocket to the PMโs National Relief Fund, and an appeal to the public to use the Aarogya Setu app, among his achievements.
Under name of PM Modi, distribution of relif material was the favorite task among the BJP MPs. In her submission, Vadodara MP Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt has listed, apart from distribution of ration kits to railway porters and setting up of a โNamo Covid isolation centreโ, the giving out of ration to โ177 differently abled peopleโฆ on the completion of seven years of Honโble PM Shri Narendra Modi at the Centreโ.
South Delhi BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri declared that he had โdistributed 21,000 Modi kits containing ration and other essentials to poor families and provided cooked food to approximately 1,51,000 needy people through the 21 Modi kitchens established in my constituency during Covidโ.
Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth said he distributed โ21,768 packets of Namo Bhojanโ to Covid patients in home isolation. โMore than 1,20,0000 packets of Modi Aahar (dry ration) were distributed to the poor and needy across various rural areas,โ reads the page under his name. He also distributed โ8,750 packets of Namo medicine (paracetamol, vitamin C, multivitamin, zinc)โ.
There was a health infrastructure shortage in the country. Many of the MPs have listed purchasing of health equipment as their big achievement.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor mentioned purchase of a thermal imaging camera for the Thiruvananthapuram airport, dialysis equipment, infrared thermometers and RT-PCR testing kits among the services he rendered to his constituents during the pandemic.
Jammu MP Jugal Kishore Sharma said he allocated Rs 1 crore from MPLAD funds for oxygen plants in Samba and Rajouri to be made functional. Devji Patel, MP from Jalore, Rajasthan, said he facilitated the import of 50 oxygen concentrators from Singapore for Covid patients in his constituency.
Suresh Kumar Pujari, MP from Odishaโs Bargarh, mentioned in his achievements that he had opened an oxygen bank in his area.
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