Delhi’s MlAs (Members of legislative Assembly) are too indifferent in spending their local area development (lAD) funds. It is quite evident since out of Rs 280 crore, around 150 crore are yet to be utilised for developmental projects in the respective Assembly segments. It amounts to almost 55 per cent of the funds not being spent for improving the infrastructure in the constituencies. There are seven Assembly constituencies in the national Capital which have supposedly reached saturation point of development.
At least public representatives think so and have refused to spend a single penny in their constituencies. Former Delhi Assembly Speaker and Ambedkar Nagar MlA Choudhury Prem Singh topped the list, having Rs 9.91 crore left unspent in his MlA local Area Development fund while followed by Delhi Power Minister Haroon Yusuf who represents Ballimaran, having Rs 6.33 crore lakh unspent in his MlA fund.
PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, Urban Development Minister Arvinder Singh lovely, Tarvinder Singh Marwah, Hari Shankar Gupta, Rajesh Jain from Congress and Subhash Sachdeva from BJP among those who have almost utilised their funds. There are 21 MlAs, having above Rs 2 crore left unspent in their funds this year. The document reveals that out of Rs 280 crore under MlA funds, Rs 149 crore is lying unspent which could have transformed the lives of many poor people and city infrastructure if MlAs utilised this substantive amount.
The Urban Development Department’s recent data in the possession of The Pioneer about spending of MlA local area development funds reveals that besides Singh and Yusuf, former Union Minister Buta Singh’s son and Devli MlA Arvinder Singh is also in the non spender’s list. At least Rs 6.09 crore of MlA fund lakh is lying unspent in his account.
The Delhi Government’s decision to increase MlA local area development funds from Rs 2 crore to Rs 4 crore in 2012 has not borne fruit as more than 50 per cent funds are lying unutilised till June 26, 2013 in the current financial year.
Women representatives’ Social Welfare Minister Prof Kiran Walia and Barkha Singh also failed to spend her MlA lAD funds in their constituencies. According to document, Rs 1.18 crore is lying unspent in the MlA fund of Barkha Singh while Rs 1.16 crore in Prof Walia. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has also failed to use Rs 1.46 crore of her MlA fund this year while leader of the Opposition Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra is also poor spender of MlA fund and Rs 2.84 crore lying in his fund. It is strange that majority of BJP MlAs are poor spenders.
Minority dominated Assembly constituencies need maximum developmental activity, but the MlAs of these constituencies appear to be least caring. Mustafabad MlA Hasan Ahmad has Rs 2.28 crore, while Okhla MlA Asif Mohd Khan has Rs 1.14 crore; Matia Mahal MlA Shoaib Iqbal has Rs 5.85 crore and Seelampur MlA Mateen Ahmad has Rs 1.82 crore of unused funds.