Chandigarh tops in MP LAD’S utilisation, Delhi ranked last

Country's Capital is worst performer in Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme where Chandigarh is the best.

Updated on: Aug 8, 2010, 17:21:20 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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Country's Capital is worst performer in Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme where Chandigarh is the best.

In a review of the scheme on Friday, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation found that Delhi has utilised only 86 per cent of the funds much below the national average of 90.32 per cent.

Chandigarh has utilised 99.67 percent of the funds it has received so far since inception of the scheme in 1992.

The review also indicated that the develop states are behind smaller states on fund utilisation.

For instance, Kerala known for its pro-people policies is ranked 20th on utilization of funds. The state also has Rs 109 crore unspent in its account.

Maharashtra with unspent Rs 235 crore is ranked ranked 19th whereas Haryana, anthoer developed state, is ranked 25th. Gujarat is better than the two develped states with ranking of 14.

Among developed states Punjab is the best with 10 th rank and 92 percent utilisation.

So called Bimaru states Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are better off with a rank of seven and nine respsectively.

Worry is still Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which have huge unspent amount of the MPLAD fund. While U.P. has an unspent money of Rs 384.74 crore, Bihar has Rs 223.47 crore.

According the meeting data Naxal affected states have mixed record on utilization of MP LAD’s fund. West Bengal, with unspent 228.77 crore rupees, ranked 31st because of 87.60 percent utilization of funs that is below of 90.32 percent of national average. while other naxal affected state Chhattisgarh, with unspent 43.64 crore rupees under the scheme, has scored 91.83 percent utilization record over release and got 13th rank on utilisation of MP LAD’s fund.

One other naxal affected state Jharkhand, currently under president rule, however failed to even match national average of utilization and stuck at 87.36 percent on utilization over release, that is below of national average of 90.32 percent and ranks at 32nd position in the utilization of funds.

Himachal Pradesh, with unspent 30.17 crore rupees ranked 33rd on utilization of funds. the hill state has spent 87.26 percent against the release which is below of national average of 90.32 percent. The other hilly state Uttrakhand also not touch the national average and only spent 89.06 percent of fund over release. this hilly state have 25.72 crore rupees in MP LAD account.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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