like UP and Bihar does factor like communities or castes matter in Odisha electionsIJ It seems an emphatic ‘yes’, if, at least, one goes by the trend of MPlAD fund expenditure in Odisha during the current lok Sabha tenure. For a high of as many as 20 lok Sabha MPs in the State, provisioning drinking water is of lesser priority vis-a-vis building community halls.
Sample this: An analysis of data available with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation reveals that expenditure on drinking water projects in Odisha stands at mere 0.98 per cent of total funds sanctioned in State under MPlAD till date during 16th lok Sabha (lS). In contrast, expenditure on community halls was at a high of over 17.3 per cent. Not only community centres, streetlights in special localities like SC colonies or OBC colonies look more a vote-winner than ‘water’.
The result: Expenditure on street lights under State MPlAD stood at a high of around 8 per cent in the current lS.
The analysis further reveals that average recommendations by as many as 20 MPs, irrespective of party affiliations, for drinking water under MPlAD in State in 16th lS till date has been below 1 per cent of their total MPlAD recommendations. However, Kendrapada MP Baijayant Panda is the lone MP to defy the trend as he has recommended nearly 90 per cent of his total MPlAD recommendations (Rs 19.25 crore) for rural drinking water projects, which is a national high.
Further, a look at recommendations made by MPs reveal that most recommendations like connecting roads or bringing up school boundaries or additional classrooms were made keeping in view the strength of community/personality in their respective constituencies. For which, Odisha MPs did better the national average in MPlAD projects under roads, education, community centres and installing street lights.
Odisha, thus, showed 19 per cent MPlAD expenditure in educationagainst 7 per cent nationally; 49 per cent in roads against 44 per nationally, 8 per cent in street lights vis-a-vis 6 per cent nationally.
Even BJD MPs don’t vouch for CM Naveen Patnaik’s emphasis on irrigation, health and handloom clusters. Reason: Farmers as a block never votes. The result: Expenditure on irrigation has been 0.87 per cent and for handloom cluster are 0 per cent of total sanctioned MPlAD projects against 2 per cent and 1per cent nationally, respectively.
Similarly, in health, the expenditure is mere 1 per cent of total sanctioned MPlAD amount against 3 per cent nationally. Water, however, does seem a big winner in other water-stressed States. Telangana, TN, MP, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra Karnataka and Chhattisgarh cornered over 90 per cent MPlAD drinking water projects nationally. Since MPs in such large States spend more, national average expenditure of MPlAD funds sanctioned for drinking water till date has been around 7.3 per cent of total MPlAD expenditure vis-à-vis mere 0.98 per cent in Odisha, which, incidentally, is an all-time low in State’s MPlAD history.
In the 15th lok Sabha (2009-14), the expenditure was around 4 per cent. Moreover, with sanctioned amount under drinking water projects at mere Rs 82 lakh, Odisha’s share has been mere 0.7 per cent of total amount sanctioned for drinking water projects nationally under MPlAD.
This is so when Odisha accounts for around 4 per cent of total strength of lok Sabha MPs.