About 48 per cent of the total â¹442 crore that were to be spent as MPLAD funds in Gujarat between 2019 and 2024, remained âunutilisedâ, stated Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).Â
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âThe Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme was started in December 1993. Between 2019 and 2024, the Covid pandemic had caused the scheme to be frozen for 1.5 years. Each MP was entitled to spend â¹17 crore instead of â¹25 crore in their respective constituencies. Thus the total entitled amount was â¹442 crore for the 26 MPs in Gujarat,â Pankti Jog, the state coordinator for Gujarat told businessline. All the 26 seats in the State belong to the BJP.
âHowever, the 26 MPs together recommended works worth â¹354 crore, of which â¹269 crore worth of works were sanctioned and â¹220 crore funds were released by the Government of India. This allocated amount of â¹220 crore is just 49.77 per cent of the total entitled amount of the MPs. If MPs do not recommend work, then the government will not allocate more funds. The onus of recommending works within their constituency lies with the MP,â she said.Â
The 26 BJP MPs incurred an expenditure of â¹230 crore (including interest) which is about 52 per cent of the entitled amount of â¹442 crore.
Despite just â¹220 crore being released, the MPs failed to spend â¹31 crore which is about 13.5 per cent of the funds released by the government. According to the data shared by ADR, Union home minister Amit Shahâs constituency of Gandhinagar had the highest unspent balance of â¹3.54 crore, followed by Vinod Chavda of Kutch ( â¹2.35 crore of unspent balance), Devusinh Chauhan of Kheda ( â¹2.35 crore) Poonamben Madam of Jamnagar ( â¹2.19 crore) and Bharattsinji Dabhi of Patan ( â¹2.01 crore).
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âEach MP could have easily used â¹17 crore during these five years. However, they have spent less than this amount,â Jog said. Of the total sanctioned works in Gujarat, the highest ââ¹114.81 crore â has been spent on railways, roads, pathways and bridges. And â¹71.32 crore on âother public facilities.â
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