AHMEDABAD: A data from the Association of Democratic Reforms revealed that 26 Gujarat BJP MPs have missed out on substantial grant allocated for their constituencies by both Central as State governments.
The data further revealed that an amount of Rs 222 crores is found to be sitting unutilized by the MPs in the state.
The Member of Parliament Local Area Development Division of the Government of India annually allocates a fund of five crore rupees to each MPs across the nation.
As per the data released by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR's Gujarat unit), state MPs receive an annual grant of Rs five crore from the central government for the development of their constituencies.
Overall, each MP is entitled to a grant of Rs 25 crore over a period of five years from May 2019 to May 2024.
However, in the fiscal year 2020-21, no grant was disbursed due to the pandemic, and in 2021-22, a reduced grant of Rs 2 crore was provided for the same reason.
Meanwhile, Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) data shows that only Rs 220 crore out of the total Rs 442 crore of grants earmarked for MPs, amounting to Rs 17 crore have been released by the government.
Meaning the MPs are not fully utilizing their allocated funds for the betterment of their constituencies.
Panthika Jog, the Gujarat Coordinator of the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), remarks, "Even among the grants earmarked for MPs, the central government has not disbursed the installments for 2022-23 to 18 MPs."
“The central government attributes the reduced allocation to non-compliance with certain regulations by the Gujarat government. Like, due to the Gujarat government's failure to submit progress reports and certificates of grant utilization to the central government, the grants have not been released," she added.
According to the ADR report, 16 MPs, including Home Minister Amit Shah, have only received a grant of Rs 9.5 crore each over the past five years. Meanwhile, nine MPs have been allocated Rs 7 crore each, and the sole MP from Rajkot, Mohan Kundaria, has received only a grant of Rs 5 crore.
“This disparity in grant allocation is worrisome, as it limits the ability of MPs to address the needs of their constituencies effectively," said Jog.