MPLAD funds unutilised in some VIP constituencies

Though the Union government last year raised each parliamentarian’s entitlement under the MPs’ Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme from rupees two to five crore, the programme suffered for want of its proper implementation in some of the VIP constituencies in  the country.

Former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s Bangalore Rural, Sandip Dikshit’s East Delhi, V Narayanasamy’s Pondicherry and Kirti Azad’s Darbhanga are among the constituencies which did not receive any fund from the Centre under the MPLAD scheme after the first installments were released in 2009.

For, either the fund released in the first installment was not utilized, or the district authorities did not report progress of works.

The Centre has so far released only Rs 1.61 crore for Kumaraswamy’s constituency, against the JD(U) MP’s cumulative entitlement of Rs 9 crore – Rs 2 crore each in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and Rs 5 crore in 2011-12.

According to latest status report available with the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), the Centre released no fund for Bangalore Rural under the MPLAD scheme after the first installment was disbursed on July 7, 2009. For, the district authority did not send in Monthly Progress Reports, a prerequisite for releasing subsequent installments.

“I have recommended several works, but it is due to the ineptitude of the district administration officials that no work under MPLAD scheme could make satisfactory progress in Bangalore Rural,” Kumaraswamy, the son of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, told Deccan Herald, adding: “I have taken it up with the State government and also written to the MOSPI to replace Bangalore Rural with Ramnagar as the nodal district for implementation of the scheme in my constituency.” 250 words

Kumaraswamy is just one among several MPs of the 15th Lok Sabha, who could not get their constituencies reap the benefits of the MPLAD scheme. The Centre on July 21, 2009 released Rupees 1.48 Crore for Lalu Prasad’s Saran constituency in Bihar.

No further installment was released, as no work was sanctioned in the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief’s constituency and the first installment too remained unspent. Same was the case with former cricketer and BJP MP Kirti Azad’s constituency Darbhanga.