GUWAHATI, March 2 � Majority of the Members of Parliament (MPs) from Assam have not been able to utilize the funds allocated to them under the MP�s Local Area Development Fund (MPLADS) and Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who has been representing Assam in the Rajya Sabha since 1991, has the best record of utilization of funds allocated to him. Interestingly, a few of the former MPs failed to utilize their funds even after expiry of their tenures.
According to records made available in the website of the Central Government, the MPs are given Rs two crore a year under the MPLADS, which was launched in 1993 for the development of their constituencies and the Rajya Sabha members are allowed to select a specific district for their projects. But unfortunately, several of the MPs from Assam have not been able to submit projects on time to ensure release of the funds on time.
The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president , Bhubaneswar Kalita, who is a Rajya Sabha member, was entitled Rs six crore under the scheme as on January this year and the Government of India released only an amount of Rs one crore and he managed to spend only Rs 0.06 crore, that is only six percent of the amount released to him. He has made recommendations for only Rs one crore so far.
The expenditure position of AGP member in the Rajya Sabha, Birendra Prasad Baishya is much better than that of the APCC president, but he too has not been able to ensure hundred percent utilization of the funds released. Baishya is also entitled Rs six crore and the entire amount has been released by the Government. He has spent Rs 4.19 crore so far, that is 69.78 percent of the released amount.
BPF member in the Rajya Sabha, Biswajit Daimary could manage to ensure expenditure of only 32 percent of the amount released to him. He is also entitled Rs six crore and an amount of Rs three crore has been released to him and he managed to spend Rs 0.98 crore. AGP member Kumar Dipak Das�s expenditure position is better as he managed to spend 89 percent of the amount released to him. He is entitled Rs seven crore and of the amount, he ensured spending of Rs 6.25 crore.
The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh managed to ensure spending of 97.23 percent of the amount released to him, which is the highest among all the sitting MPs from Assam. Dr Singh is entitled Rs 30.05 crore and of the amount Rs 29.05 crore has been released to him and he managed to spend Rs 28.25 crore. Newly elected Congress member in the Rajya Sabha, Nazneen Faruque managed to spend 82 percent of the amount released to her, but she is entitled only Rs two crore so far and Rs one crore of the amount has been released to her. Another Rajya Sabha member Silvious Condpan managed to show better performance as he managed to spend 79.67 percent of the amount released to him.
The utilization of the MPLADS funds by several of the Lok Sabha members from Assam including that by Union Minister Bijoy Krishna Handique is also very dismal, which raised doubts on their sincerity in ensuring development of their constituencies. Handique managed to spend only 33 percent of the amount released to him by the Government of India. He is entitled Rs four crore and Rs three crore of the amount has been released to him and he only utilized Rs one crore so far.
The utilization performance of Ranee Narah, MP from Lakhimpur constituency, is among the worst among all the MPs from Assam as she managed to ensure utilization of only 16.65 percent of the amount released to her. The Government of India released Rs three crore to her and she managed to ensure utilization of only Rs 50 lakh. She is entitled Rs four crore under the MPLADS. The position of Barpeta MP Ismail Hussain Khan is even worse as he managed to spend only 11.95 percent of the amount released to him.
In fact, none of the MPs from Assam managed to ensure hundred percent utilization of the funds allocated to them for the development of their constituencies. Biren Singh Ingty, MP from Autonomous District, managed to spend 67 percent of the amount released to him, Badruddin Ajmal, who represents Dhubri constituency, managed to spend only 37 percent of the amount released to him, Paban Singh Ghatowar (Dibrugarh) could utilize 51.99 percent of the amount released to him, Bijoya Chakraborty (Guwahati) managed to ensure utilization of 68.77 percent of the amount released to her, Dip Gogoi (Kaliabor) managed to spend 59.80 percent of the amount released and Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya (Karimganj) managed to spend 25.47 percent of the amount released.
The performance of Ramen Deka (Mangaldoi) is also dismal as he managed to utilize only 25.46 percent of the amount released, while, Rajen Gohain (Nagaon) spent 40.70 percent and Kabindra Purkayastha spent 16.06 percent. The position of new MP Joseph Toppo is somewhat better as he managed to utilize 50.45 percent of the amount released.
