MPs Find No Time To Spend LAD Funds

A Whopping 184 Cr Of LS And 52 Cr Of RS Members Lying Unspent.

Engaged in a seemingly unending battle over the issue of bifurcation of the state, MPs from the state have found very little time to monitor development works sanctioned under the MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). As a result, a whopping Rs 184 crore funds have been lying unspent from the Lok Sabha members account and more than Rs 52 crore from the Rajya Sabha members quota.
   

Ironically, the Centre has not released the second installment for the current financial year which is drawing closer as there is no pressure for the release of funds from the MPs. A few members did not even secure the first installment. The overall performance of the projects taken up under MPLADS is just above average as only about 66% have been completed so far.    

According to information, most of the MPs are making recommendations to the district administrations to take up certain schemes without bothering to ensure their completion.
   

Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav recommended works worth about Rs 25 crore as against a grant of Rs 19 crore for which he is eligible by the end of 2013-14. But the district administration has granted only Rs 13.83 crore. Even Union ministers from the state have not fared well in spending funds from their MPLAD quota.
   

The Visakhapatnam district administration sanctioned Rs 8.51 crore for projects recommended by Union minister of state for commerce D Purandeswari. In fact, she proposed development works worth Rs 13.65 crore against the available balance in her account of Rs 11.59 crore. This clearly shows lack of seriousness on both the sides as the district administration kept nearly Rs 4 crore unspent from her account even after receiving proposals. Similarly, projects to the tune of Rs 7.53 crore were completed as against Rs.10.14 crore released under Union minister Kishore Chandra Deo’s account leaving another Rs 4 crore as balance.
   

The situation in another Union minister Killi Krupa Rani’s constituency (Srikakulam) too is the same as the district administration achieved only about 54 per cent of progress under the MPLAD. Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal’s performance, too, is not much to write home about as the district administration spent about Rs 5.76 crore of Rs.13.40 crore earmarked to him. Rajahmundry MP Undavalli, too, failed to show real progress as an amount Rs 5.93 crore was still left unspent in his account. A few MPs did not even bother to come up with any ideas for development of their respective constituencies. The Union government released Rs 2 crore per year for each MP for the first two years of the present term (15th Lok Sabha), and it was hiked to Rs 5 crore per year from 2011-12. Thus, each MP from the state has as much as Rs 14 crore at their disposal by the end of the current financial year.
   

Tirupathi MP Chinta Mohan has sanctioned just Rs 3.34 crore till now for development projects. Although, MIM MP from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi sanctioned works to the tune of Rs 6.93 crore as against the available balance of Rs 7.32 crore, the district administration released just Rs 2.38 crore.    

“It appears that the MPs and the district collectors are not serious about spending money at their disposal for public good,” observed an economics professor, LSN Prasad of Acharya Nagarjuna Univerity.
   

However, there are some exceptions. For instance, Union minister of state for railways K J Suryaprakash Reddy spent 91 per cent funds and YSRCP leader and Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is not far behind with 82% spending.