DEHRADUN : As the term of the 17th Lok Sabha nears its completion, five Bhartiya Janata Party MPs from Uttarakhand have failed to utilise 64 per cent of the funds allocated to them for constituency development, shows data received through an application filed under the Right to Information ACT.
The RTI reply revealed that Rs 54.49 crore remains unutilised out of the total allocation of Rs 85 crore under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD) to the representatives of Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Almora, and Haridwar constituencies.
In response to advocate Nadeem-udeen’s RTI query, the public information officer of the Uttarakhand rural development commissioner, Hemanti Gunjial, shared the data.
“As of December 2023, the state’s five MPs had utilised only Rs 30.51 crore out of the allocated MPLAD fund of Rs 85 crore,” said the reply.
“The current five MPs in Uttarakhand are eligible to receive a total of `85 crore in MPLAD fund. However, due to failure to submit utilisation certificates in respect of expenditure of previous installments, audit reports, etc., Rs 22.02 crore has not been released till December 31, 2023,” Nadeem-udeen said.
“While interest amounting to Rs 3.42 crore has been added to the Rs 62.98 crore received from the Centre, making a total of Rs 66.4 crore in MPLAD funds, as of December 2023. A sum of Rs 32.47 crore has not been spent”, said Nadeem-udeen.
WHAT THE RTI REPLY SAYS
Rs 85 CR allocated to five BJP MPs under Member of Parliament Local Area
Development Scheme: Rs 54.49 CR remains unutilised till December 31, 2023
The MPs represent Tehri, Pauri, Nainital, Almora, and Haridwar constituencies
As of December 31, only Haridwar MP Ramesh Pokhriyal and Pauri MP Tirath Singh Rawat have received the full Rs 17 CR
Others have not got full amount due to failure to submit utilisation certificates