New Delhi: Despite being heavily criticised for his poor attendance in the Indian Parliament, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar is said to be diligent about his duties as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha — outside the House.
According to a report in the Economic Times, people close to the maestro pointed out that Tendulkar has been working on matters critical to membership of the Upper House other than attendance. Once, he is among the best-performing nominated lawmakers when it comes to utilising funds under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).
Records reviewed by ET show Tendulkar has exhausted 98 per cent of his MPLADS funds, making allocations for flood relief in Jammu and Kashmir and Tamil Nadu and rebuilding a school and bridge in Chamoli in the aftermath of the Uttarakhand floods. Tendulkar wrote to junior Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister VK Singh on December 14 committing Rs 50 lakh from his MPLADS fund to Tamil Nadu relief.
The Little Master, who was Nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a Swachh Bharat ambassador, has leant his support to initiatives such as building toilets in Mumbai's Goregaon and school infrastructure in remote parts of Maharashtra and West Bengal, people close to him said.
Last but not the least, the report further added that being a sportsperson himself, Tendulkar has raised the concerns of several athletes to Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal through several letters.
After reading all this, we can say that the might not be performing well inside the Parliament in terms of attendance, but his efforts outside can barely be questioned.
In 2012, Tendulkar was offered one of the 12 seats in Rajya Sabha that are reserved for those who have distinguished themselves in various fields such as the arts, science or social services.
