Assam MPs still to spend Rs 18 crore MPLADS Funds

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Lok Sabha election is around the corner, but the present MPs from Assam still have Rs 18.05 crore as an unspent balance of Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds.

Assam has 14 MPs, and each has less or more of the funds under MPLADS yet to be fully utilized. The five-year terms of the MPs are slated to end by May 2024.

According to data from the Government of India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, as of February 19, 2024, the 14 MPs from Assam are entitled to a fund of Rs 250.50 crore in total. Of this, the Government of India released Rs 145.50 crore. The funds released by the Centre are deposited in a bank account of the district administration meant for the MPLADS fund. Interest is accrued from the bank deposits by the district administration concerned. Calculated with the accrued interest, the available amount for the 14 MPs comes to Rs 148.79 crore. Of this available amount, an amount of Rs 139.67 crore was sanctioned for various schemes under MPLADS. Now, an amount of Rs 18.051 crore is still lying as an unspent balance.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has revealed the unspent balance of each MP. According to this information, Pradyut Bordoloi of Nowgaon parliamentary constituency has Rs 1.051 crore as unspent balance, Queen Oja of Guwahati constituency has an amount of Rs 2.33 crore, Gaurav Gogoi of Kaliabor has Rs 1.19 crore, Haren Sing Bey of Autonomous District (Diphu) Rs 1.61 crore, Abdul Khaleque of Barpeta has Rs 1.028 crore, Rameswar Teli of Dibrugarh Rs 1.02 crore, Badruddin Ajmal of Dhubri has Rs 3.78 crore, Dilip Saikia of Mangaldoi has Rs 1.79 crore, Topon Kumar Gogoi of Jorhat Rs 1.01 crore, Kripanath Mallah of Karimganj Rs 81 lakh, Pradan Baruah of Lakhimpur Rs 82 lakh, Rajdeep Roy of Silchar has Rs 24 lakh, Pallab Lochan Das of Tezpur has Rs 91 lakh, and Naba (Hira) Kumar Sarania of Kokrajhar still has Rs 39 lakh of unspent balance.

As per guidelines, the MPLADS enables the MPs to recommend development work in their parliamentary constituencies with an emphasis on creating durable community assets based on locally felt needs. The MPs are now entitled to an amount of Rs 5 crore in one financial year.

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