Latest news with #MLA-LAD
Hans India
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
MLA-LAD fund slashed from Rs 15 cr to Rs 5 cr
New Delhi: The BJP-led Delhi government has significantly reduced the annual allocation for the MLA Local Area Development (MLA-LAD) fund from ₹15 crore to ₹5 crore per legislator, according to a recent directive issued by the Urban Development Department. The decision, formalized through Cabinet Decision No. 3187 dated May 2, 2025, will come into effect from the financial year 2025–26. The move marks a major policy reversal from the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, which had increased the fund from ₹10 crore to ₹15 crore in October 2024, just months ahead of the February 2025 Assembly elections. The AAP was defeated by the BJP in those elections. As per the order, each of Delhi's 70 MLAs will now receive ₹5 crore annually under the MLA-LAD Scheme, amounting to a total outlay of ₹350 crore. Notably, the fund has been designated as an "untied" allocation, meaning it can be used without restriction for both capital works and the repair and maintenance of public assets, provided they fall under approved categories. A BJP legislator, speaking to the media, stated that the decision reflects the government's commitment to financial discipline and more efficient use of public resources. 'This restructuring will help eliminate unnecessary expenditures and ensure greater transparency in the execution of developmental works,' the MLA said. Under the AAP administration, MLA funds had seen a steady increase — from ₹4 crore in 2021–22 and 2022–23, to ₹7 crore in 2023–24, and finally to ₹15 crore in 2024–25. The MLA-LAD scheme plays a crucial role in local development, allowing legislators to fund infrastructure, road works, school improvements, and other essential public services in their constituencies. While the current government has defended the cut as a fiscally responsible move, it remains unclear how the funds saved from this reduction will be reallocated or utilized. Opposition leaders have yet to comment formally on the decision.
Hindustan Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Delhi MLAs' local area fund slashed to ₹5 crore; BJP, AAP trade barbs
The annual allocation for a legislator under the MLA Local Area Development (MLA-LAD) Fund has been slashed from ₹15 crore to ₹5 crore for the 2025-26 financial year. A decision to this effect was taken by the Delhi cabinet chaired by chief minister Rekha Gupta on May 2, said officials aware of the development. 'In pursuance of Cabinet Decision No. 3187 dated 02.05.2025, the allocation of fund under MLA-LAD scheme has been kept to ₹5 crore per Assembly constituency per year from 2025–26 onwards,' stated a government order issued on May 9 and signed by deputy secretary Arvind Jain. 'This will be an untied fund and can be spent on approved capital works as well as repairs and maintenance of assets, without a ceiling.' On October 10, 2024, the then Delhi cabinet under Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had approved a 50% hike in MLA-LAD funds, increasing the annual allocation to MLAs from ₹10 crore to ₹15 crore, just months before the 2025 Delhi assembly polls. But the BJP secured a thumping majority in Delhi assembly winning 48 of 70 seats and reducing AAP to just 22 seats. First introduced in Delhi in 1994–95 and modelled on the MP Local Area Development Scheme, the MLA-LAD scheme allows elected representatives to recommend public works aimed at improving infrastructure in their constituencies — including roads, street lighting, drainage, and other civic amenities. The fund is routed through the urban development department as part of Delhi's annual budget. Launched in 1994-95 at 1 crore per MLA, the MLA-LAD fund cap rose to ₹4 crore in 2011-12, jumped to ₹10 crore per constituency after a Cabinet decision on 7 August 2018, and was lifted again to 15 crore on 10 October 2024, according to an official document seen by HT. The move has sparked political sparring, with BJP MLAs criticising the AAP for its handling of the scheme during its tenure. The AAP, meanwhile, accused the BJP of failing to prioritise development after coming to power. In the years leading up to the 2025 elections, the scheme had seen a patchy trajectory, according to BJP leaders. Party MLA and chief whip Abhay Verma insisted that the new allocation was actually an improvement over the AAP's early years. 'In 2020–21, the AAP government didn't release any funds under the MLA-LAD scheme due to Covid. In 2021–22 and 2022–23, it gave ₹4 crore each year to every MLA, totalling ₹8 crore for the two years. In 2023–24, it allocated ₹7 crore, and in 2024–25, ₹15 crore per MLA. So over five years, the AAP government gave ₹30 crore to each MLA,' said Abhay Verma, the BJP's chief whip in the Delhi Assembly. 'The BJP government is giving more than the previous government to MLAs. It's common practice for the MLA-LAD fund to increase over time. We expect that over five years, MLAs will receive more than the ₹30 crore given by the AAP government,' said Verma. 'Under AAP government, the MLA-LAD funds were misused by AAP MLAs rather than actually being spent on infrastructure. The AAP misled the people on these funds from the beginning — the government never provided the promised amount to be spent in constituencies,' alleged a BJP MLA who requested anonymity. Still, some BJP MLAs expressed dismay over the new government's decision to slash the allocation. 'We finally have the mandate to deliver, and residents have high expectations. Wherever we go, people hand over lists of pending works,' said another BJP MLA. 'With ₹5 crore, it won't be enough. Now, we'll need to route projects through multiple agencies instead of executing them directly.' AAP leaders, however, rejected the claim that they underfunded development. Matia Mahal MLA Aaley Mohammad Iqbal said the BJP's decision to cut the allocation would harm not just legislators but constituents across the city. 'With inflation so high, ₹5 crore is barely enough to fund basic repairs, let alone build anything new. All 70 constituencies will suffer,' he said. 'The fund should be restored to ₹15 crore annually.' The budget for the MLA-LAD Fund has been scaled down accordingly — from ₹400 crore in 2024–25 to ₹349 crore in 2025–26.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
State introduces e-Work 2.0 to streamline rural works, including MLA-LAD scheme
Jaipur: Under the e-Work 2.0 module, launched by the state's rural development department, several departmental activities, including recommendations or proposals for development projects by MLAs in their respective assembly constituencies under the MLA-LAD scheme , are now done digitally or online. This initiative aims to enhance transparency, enable real-time monitoring, reduce work completion time, streamline govt processes, and improve efficiency in project execution. Some of these activities include cost estimation of development projects, digitally signed sanctioning/approval of work, and online measurement of work (DANG, MAGRA, and MEWAT area development programmes and MLA-LAD). Additionally, it involves online payment through a single nodal account (SNA), inspection and monitoring of development projects, preparation of work completion and utilisation certificates online, SSO integration, and geo-tagging of works. "Under this module, MLAs can recommend development projects to be undertaken in their respective assembly constituencies through the e-Work mobile app. The financial and physical status of these projects can also be monitored through this app," said project director rural development and deputy secretary Omkareshwar Sharma. While the e-Work 2.0 module was launched by chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on March 27, most of the features of this module were conceptualised by additional chief secretary (ACS) rural development department Sreya Guha. The department has also suggested to the state govt that the e-Work module can be replicated in departments such as tribal area development (TAD), forest, local self-government, public works department (PWD), water resources (WRD), and Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). Graphics · Centralized Payment System through SNA: Ensures streamlined and controlled disbursement of funds. · No Fund Parking: Ensures funds are not idle at any level, optimizing financial flow · Easy Reconciliation: Automated financial reconciliation, reducing discrepancies · Single Portal for Work Lifecycle: From proposal to completion, all processes are online · Real-Time Monitoring: Track physical and financial progress at every stage · Delayed Work Tracking: Identify and act on projects exceeding time limits · Standardized Inspection Monitoring: Ensures inspections follow prescribed norms · Reduced Work Completion Time: Faster approvals, fund transfers, and execution · Transparent Approvals & Documentation: Digital record-keeping reduces manipulation risks e-Works Mobile App - is a digital platform for seamless project monitoring, inspection, and approval. It enhances transparency, speeds up workflows, and ensures timely payments through real-time tracking and online services
Hindustan Times
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Delhi gets a ‘triple engine govt' after 18 years
Two and a half years after losing the 2022 civic polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday reclaimed control of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in what was effectively a walkover. With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) boycotting the mayoral election, the process was reduced to a formality. After a 90-minute-long session, BJP's candidate Raja Iqbal Singh secured 133 votes against Congress's Mandeep Singh, who received just eight. One vote was declared invalid. The win cements the BJP's dominance across all three tiers of Delhi's governance — the Centre, the Delhi Assembly, and now the MCD — a 'triple engine government,' as the party describes it. This is the first time since 2007 that a single party has controlled all three levels in the Capital. Delhi's new mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, a two-term councillor from Mukherjee Nagar, will lead the MCD's deliberative wing for the next year. Jai Bhagwan Yadav, councillor from Begumpur, was elected unopposed as deputy mayor after Congress's Ariba Khan withdrew her candidature following Singh's request. Singh said the administration's immediate priorities would be to clean up Delhi, improve sanitation, desilt drains to reduce waterlogging, and revive policy work stalled over the past 2.5 years. 'The AAP has turned Delhi into a garbage dump. People will see a stark change in three months,' he said. Singh also promised to withdraw the 'garbage user charge' and expedite the formation of the Standing Committee, which controls the MCD's finances and has not been constituted since the last election. One-sided election The House of Councillors convened at 2.12pm with a two-minute silence to honour the victims of the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Decorations in the chamber were subdued in light of the tragedy. AAP councillors were absent, having boycotted the election after a string of defections to the BJP cost the party its majority. The voting concluded at 3.35pm, and by 3.52pm, presiding officer Satya Sharma declared Raja Iqbal Singh as the new mayor. Following the defeat in mayoral polls, and with a request from the newly elected mayor, Congress's deputy mayor candidate Ariba Khan withdrew here candidature leading to unopposed victory of BJP candidate Jai Bhagwan Yadav. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Singh's election would pave the way for smoother civic governance. 'The new mayor will fast-track the formation of the Standing Committee so that financial and administrative decisions can once again be taken in accordance with the MCD Act. Delhiites will soon feel the impact of a triple-engine government,' he said. The AAP's 2.5-year tenure in the MCD was marked by constant friction with the bureaucracy, which resisted several of its key proposals—regularising 12,000 sanitation workers, reducing user charges, waiving property tax, implementing MLA-LAD projects, and the transfer of officials. The non-formation of the Standing Committee and 27 other statutory and ad hoc panels paralysed decision-making, turning the MCD into a legislative deadlock. The new BJP administration has promised to break that logjam. An MCD official, who asked not to be identified, said the focus will now shift to elections for ward committees in the 12 administrative zones. 'Each zone is governed by a ward committee and contributes one member to the Standing Committee. Elections will be needed in three zones where seats are vacant. These are necessary to complete the 12-member Standing Committee,' the official said. With AAP's Leader of the House Mukesh Goyal having resigned, the BJP is expected to soon appoint its own leader to the post. 'Over the next month, the formation of ad hoc and special committees will also be on the agenda,' the official added. The MCD is now set for a flurry of internal elections, including those for ward committees and various panels, over the next two months. These bodies, ideally formed in the first year of the term, may finally take shape midway through the corporation's five-year tenure.
