Gujarat MPs spent just 4.2% of local area development funds: Report
Gandhinagar: Over a year since the 18th Lok Sabha was constituted, Members of Parliament (MPs) from Gujarat have utilised only 4.2% of their allocated local area development funds, raising serious questions about the pace of grassroots development work in the state.
According to a report by Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP)—an organisation working to promote transparency and accountability—no development work was completed in 14 out of 26 Lok Sabha constituencies of Gujarat since the new Lok Sabha came into existence in June 2024.
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Under the MPLAD (Members of Parliament Local Area Development) scheme, each MP is allotted Rs 5 crore annually to support public welfare and infrastructure projects in their constituency.
For Gujarat's 26 MPs, this amounts to a collective allocation of Rs 254.8 crore. However, by July 5, only Rs 10.72 crore had been spent.
The Bharuch constituency recorded the highest utilisation at Rs 1.73 crore, followed by Patan with Rs 1.56 crore, and Sabarkantha with Rs 1.08 crore. In sharp contrast, zero spending was reported in key constituencies such as Ahmedabad East, Ahmedabad West, Banaskantha, Chhota Udepur, Gandhinagar, and Navsari.
The MAGP report, citing data from the official MPLAD scheme portal, highlights the stark underutilisation of funds that could otherwise be used for critical projects including public health, education, sanitation, irrigation, flood control, energy, agriculture, and infrastructure such as roads and bridges.
Pointers: Implementation in a year
- Navsari constituency has the highest number of recommendations (297 works), followed by Mehsana constituency (271 works) and Kheda constituency (265 works).
- Out of a total of 3,823 recommended works, only 93 works have been completed
- No work was completed in 14 of the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state
Box: Lack of Transparency
Pankti Jog of MAGP said that the MPLAD portal only provides details of the allocated budget, expenditure incurred, and the number of works. "Analysis of how much fund was used by which MP in which specific area or sector is not available on the portal," Jog said. She added that on the earlier portal, MPs themselves could see details like the number of works they recommended which started, how many received technical approval, and how many were rejected.
These details are now not available on the portal, she added.
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