NEW DELHI: Even as the sixteenth Lok Sabha completed one year in office, how did the elected members perform? A performance review shows more than half of them failed to spend even a single rupee from their MPLAD funds of Rs 5 crore each.
And, shockingly, the list of non-performers includes big names like Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati (Jhansi), Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar (Bangalore South), Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda (Bangalore North) and Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra (Deoria) among the 298 MPs out of 542.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has utilised 16% of the Rs 5 crore in his constituency Varanasi. The list not only has names from the ruling party but from the Opposition also including Congress President Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav (Azamgarh).
As per a report published on IndiaSpend, most ministers of the government figure in the list of MPs who have not utilized the fund meant for development of their local areas until May 15, 2015.
As per states, Uttar Pradesh tops the list as 52 of the 80 MPs from the state have used zero rupees under the scheme, followed by Maharashtra and Bihar. On the other hand, MPs from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal have done better.
