- August 19, 2013
- Posted by: admin
- Category: Media Watch
K’taka MPs spend just 33% funds on you
At 24%, Bellary MP Shantha Spent the least
Manu Aiyappa TNN
Bangalore: Karnataka politicians have spent just 33% of the total amount under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme over the past four years (2009-2013). Interestingly, older netas seem to have made the most of the scheme.
At least eight of the state’s 28 MPs spent less than 60% of the funds allotted. In contrast, seniors like HD Deve Gowda (Hassan), Mallikarjun M Kharge (Gulbarga) and D B Chandre Gowda crossed the 80% mark. Deve Gowda, who tops the list, is among one of the top five in the country, to make best use of these funds. He spent 93.83% of the total Rs 12.11 crore allotted .
These figures, released by the Union ministry of statistics and programme implementation, are updated till January 2013. The state’s youngest MP, Bellary’s J Shantha, 40, spent only 23.78% of funds available and holds the record of lowest spending across the country. Shanta explained: “I couldn’t concentrate because of unsavoury political developments in Karnataka. I’ll try to make up in the remaining period.”
Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s son and Shimoga MP BY Raghavendra, 43, managed to spend about 91.02% of the money, and is ranked second after Deve Gowda.
Many of the MPs who showed dismal performance are from the BJP, which won 19 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the 2009 parliamentary polls.
Among Union ministers, K H Muniyappa and M Veerappa Moily were big disappointments, spending less than 55%. This was also true in the case of two other senior members – N Dharam Singh (Bidar) and A H Vishwanath (Mysore).PC Mohan says projects are in pipeline .
PC Mohan, representing Bangalore Central, spent about 43%, while his counterparts from Bangalore North and South outperformed him.
“I had lined up at least a dozen projects, including a disaster-management centre at Bowring Hospital and a dialysis centre at Victoria Hospital. This is not reflected in these statistics. I’ll be better placed in the five-year statistics which will be revealed next year,” Mohan told TOI.
TIMES VIEW:
‘ Under-utilizing MP funds for development is as bad as misusing them. And that’s what Karnataka’s parliamentarians are guilty of. It’s less than a year for the general elections and it is gross injustice to the people and constituencies that just a third of the funds has been spent in the state. It’s time an independent agency monitored the pressing issues in each constituency and ensured money is well-spent instead of letting MPs sit on them. Voters too need to be educated on this issue so that netas can be taken to task for not using publicmoney for public welfare.