Members of Parliament (MPs) saw an increase in the annual allocation of funds for development schemes in their constituencies to Rs 5 crore last financial year, from Rs 2 crore before that. However, the way the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds are being utilised by MPs hardly justifies this increase.
MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha could utilise only 53.12 per cent of the released funds of Rs 3,564 crore under the MPLAD scheme as on March 31.
Data with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed MPs from Delhi utilised just 30 per cent of the MPLAD funds, which are non-lapsable in nature, since the beginning of their term in 2009 at Rs 14 crore, against the released amount of Rs 56.91 crore.
Mizoram recorded the highest fund utilisation at 85 per cent, at Rs 5.52 crore against the allotted sum of Rs 6.53 crore.
Interestingly, in the on-going Lok Sabha, Puducherry’s MPs utilised the least at 25 per cent of the released sum of Rs 4 crore, but the Union Territory topped the list in funds utilisation since the beginning of the MPLAD scheme in 1993, with 94 per cent.
Among larger states, Madhya Pradesh utilised 68 per cent, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 48 per cent and West Bengal at 47 per cent.
The MPLAD scheme was introduced by the Narasimha Rao government to help MPs execute small works of a local nature to meet the urgent needs of constituents. It began with an initial annual grant of Rs 50 lakh per MP. The amount was increased to Rs 1 crore in 1994-95 and to Rs 2 crore in 1998-99. It was further raised to Rs 5 crore in 2011-12, as the MPs demanded an increase in the amount on the back of cost escalation.
Since 1993, Rs 3,549 crore is still unspent, and given that Rs 5 crore is now be allocated to MPs, the unspent balance is likely to expand.
Sandeep Dikshit, the MP from East Delhi constituency, had spent only 1.8 per cent of the allocated funds till February 2012. Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, MP from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, utilised just Rs 2.3 crore, which was 35 per cent of the allocated fund, till August last year. His cousin and BJP MP Varun Gandhi utilised 63 per cent of the allocated funds, worth Rs 5.54 crore against the allotted amount of Rs 9 crore till January 2012.
Pranab Mukherjee, who is set to become the President of India, spent just Rs 1.21 crore of the Rs 4.43 crore released by the government, nearly 30 per cent.
Coming to the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has spent a whopping 91 per cent of the entitlement of Rs 40 crore at Rs 32 crore.
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