Rs 42 crore held back for non-submission of reports
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The unspent balance of the MPLAD (MP's Local Area Development) Fund in the state as of March 2023 is Rs 41 crore. This is over and above the non-release of Rs 42 crore, due to the failure on the part of the district authorities concerned to submit eligible reports and utilization certificates in time.
According to official records, the Centre releases the entitled Rs 5 crore per year to each of the MPs in two equal installments, directly to the district authority of the nodal district of MPs concerned. And the Centre releases the first installment at the beginning of the financial year with certain conditions. The district authorities concerned have to submit audit reports, provisional utilization certificates, eligible monthly progress reports etc. If they fail to submit all such papers satisfactorily, the Centre holds back the second installment.
According to the Lok Sabha records, the MPLAD funds of several MPs of the state are pending due to non-submission of various documents. For example, the Centre has held back Rs 5 crore worth of MPLAD Fund of Congress MP Abdul Khaleque due to non-receipt of the eligible monthly progress report and the provisional utilization certificate, Rs 2.50 crore of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi due to pending audit certificate and non-submission of the utilization certificate.
Non-submission of provisional utilization certificate and eligible monthly progress report led to the non-release of Rs 2.50 crore of MP Tapan Kumar Gogoi.
According to official records, the breakup of unspent balance of MPLAD funds of the MPs as of March 2023 is: Rs 4.08 crore of Dr. Rajdeep Roy, Rs 3.79 crore of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, Rs 2.98 crore of Rameswar Teli, Rs 3.81 crore of Abdul Khaleque, Rs 3.75 crore of Gaurav Gogoi, Rs 2.53 crore of Naba Kumar Sarania, Rs 2.20 crore of Pallab Lochan Das, Rs 3.13 crore of Pradan Baruah, Rs 4.91 crore of Tapan Kumar Gogoi, Rs 2.67 crore of Dillip Saikia, Rs 4.85 crore of Haren Sing Bey, Rs 3 crore of Kripanath Mallah, Rs 1.38 crore of Pradyut Bordoloi, and Rs 3.27 crore of Queen Oja.
According to sources, the responsibility lies mostly with the district authorities concerned, to submit documents in time. However, their frequent transfer and posting often make them unable to submit eligible progress reports for the MPLAD fund in time, leading to the holding up of the subsequent installment. The lack of proper monitoring of the ongoing works by the MPs also leads to non-release of funds.
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