The Delhi Cabinet on Thursday approved a 50 per cent hike in MLA-LAD Fund with each MLA’s local area development fund increased from Rs. 10 crores to Rs. 15 crores per year.

Announcing the increase in the funds at a press conference, Chief Minister Atishi positioned Delhi as the state with the highest MLA Fund allocation in the country. “Today, the Delhi Cabinet has made a significant decision by increasing the MLA Fund from Rs 10 crores per year to Rs 15 crores per year. No other state in the country provides such a large MLA Fund as Delhi,” she asserted.

Highlighting comparisons with other states, she noted that Gujarat allocates Rs 1.5 crores per MLA constituency, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka provide Rs 2 crores, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Rajasthan allocate only Rs 5 crores.

“Now, Delhi will provide Rs 15 crores per year, not only the highest in the country but also three times more than most states. For the past ten years, under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi government has been working for the people of Delhi—whether they live in slums, unauthorized colonies, or big bungalows. In the coming years, the Delhi government will continue to work for the people of Delhi,” she stated.

Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Today, there was an important meeting of the Delhi government's Cabinet at the Delhi Secretariat, where a major decision was made regarding the MLA-LAD Fund. The MLA-LAD Fund is a very important fund in a democracy through which local residents can get small or large development works done through their MLA.”

In light of the damage caused by this year’s heavy rains, he said,

 “This year Delhi has experienced a lot of rain, which has caused damage to the roads, parks, walkways, and walls. MLAs have been regularly bringing these issues to our attention, and the increased MLA Fund will enable them to quickly provide relief without waiting for long departmental sanctions.”

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP said that the announcement by Chief Minister Atishi to increase the annual MLA fund in the last moments of the government and the assembly's tenure is nothing but a deception.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva stated,

“This increase in MLA funds is less likely to be spent on solving local problems and development, and is more likely to be misused on the ruling MLAs' commission minting, as well as being misused by contractors and officials.”

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Vijender Gupta added the government should ensure that only development work is carried out within this time frame using the additional MLA funds. “Additionally, there should be complete audit supervision of all MLA fund expenditures made within the final 100 days,” he said.