UP scraps LAD fund for current fiscal, cuts lawmakers’ salary

| | Lucknow
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UP scraps LAD fund for current fiscal, cuts lawmakers’ salary

Thursday, 09 April 2020 | PNS | Lucknow



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With the aim to arrange funds to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the Uttar Pradesh government decided to scrap the Local Area Development Fund of legislators for the current fiscal and also announced a cut of 30 per cent of salaries of legislators and ministers.
This and other decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting held through video-conferencing in Lucknow on Wednesday.
A government spokesman said that in the brief meeting through video-conferencing, ministers unanimously approved Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s suggestion to suspend Local Area Development Fund for 2020-21 fiscal. The fund will be diverted to chief minister’s Covid Care Fund.
Besides, the cabinet also decided to slash salaries of ministers and legislators by 30 per cent.
Legislators of the state get Rs 3 crore per year as Local Area Development Fund, commonly known as Vidhayak Nidhi.
The chief minister said the fund collected through this would be used for improving infrastructure of testing labs, COVID hospitals and also for manufacturing personal protection equipment (PPE), N95 masks and ventilators.
Already a dozen Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers, including some ministers, have pledged their contribution that includes Local Area Development Fund and a year’s salary for the Covid Care Fund.
The official said that after the cabinet approval, the government would bring an ordinance in this regard through which money would be transferred to the Covid Care Fund.
The UP cabinet also approved a change in the contingency which was earlier Rs 600 crore and now has been doubled to Rs 1,200 crore.
On Monday, the Centre had brought an ordinance to cut the salary of Union ministers and MPs and suspended MPLAD fund for two years.
Sources said that before taking this decision, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath brought opposition parties on the same page and spoke to Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, SP president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.
The opposition gave its consent with a rider that the entire transaction be made in a transparent way and the government make public the expenditure done for the prevention of COVID-19 virus in the state through this fund.

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