BENGALURU: Three Members of Parliament representing Bengaluru in the Lok Sabha recommended Rs 55.88 crore from their Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) over a period of 5 years. Of this 42.67 per cent (Rs 23.47 crore) was spent on Public Infrastructure Development followed by 29.15 per cent (Rs 16.03 crore) spent on Drinking Water and Sanitation. They spent 13.22 (Rs 7.27 crore) on education, according to a report released by Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) on Saturday.
BPAC analysed the MPLADS of MPs representing Bangalore North, Bangalore Central and Bangalore South Parliamentary Constituencies to observe the pattern of spending on activities.
While Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya recommended Rs 19.36 crore from the MPLADS, DV Sadananda Gowda representing Bengaluru North constituency recommended Rs 18.69 crore followed by Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan with Rs 17.79 crore.
While Rs 5 crore is allocated to MPLADS every year each MP to recommend developmental works with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt needs of the people, in the wake of the COVID pandemic, it was suspended from April 6, 2020 to November 9, 2021, and no funds were allocated to the scheme for FY 2020-21. For the period of FY 2021-22, i.e., from November 10, 2021 to March 31, 2022, Rs 2 crore was allocated under the scheme for each Member of Parliament.
During the 17th Lok Sabha, the house worked for 273 days and the National Average attendance of MPs was at 79% and the state average attendance for Karnataka MPs was at 71%. PC Mohan, attended 224 days (82%), Tejasvi Surya attended 212 days (78%) and DV Sadananda Gowda attended 100 days (63%). The report said that DV Sadananda Gowda served as Union Cabinet minister from May 30, 2019, to July 07, 2021 and as Ministers represent the government in debates they do not sign the attendance register.
Harish N, Member, B.PAC said the BPAC report brings in greater transparency of how the grants have been allocated to constituency development works and with this voters can make informed choices.