The Kochi Post today published a story on the amount utilised by various MPs from Kerala under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). The story examines the extent of funds recommended by the Kerala MPs in the 16th Lok Sabha, the amount sanctioned by the District Authority, the expenditure incurred, the percentage of utilisation, and unused balance amount under the scheme.
As per the figures, Shashi Tharoor has utilised only 40.47% of the funds under the MPLADS. He has recommended Rs. 12.52 crore for various development projects. However, the District Authority has sanctioned only Rs 8.67 crore and Rs. 3.04 crore is the expenditure incurred by it. A tweet sent to Tharoor by Raghul Sudheesh, our Executive Editor, asking about the low utilisation by MPLADS funds by Tharoor, has received replies from him in two different tweets.
In his first tweet, he says that most of his projects involve construction of roads and bridges, which take time. Further, he adds that the district authorities have been slow to sanction the amounts. Mr. Tharoor has been sarcastic with his second tweet and says that the easiest way to show 100% is to buy buses and computers, but he is meeting the needs of people. He also adds that the funds are deemed spent only when projects are complete.
You can read the complete story on utilisation of MPLADS funds here.
Main photograph by Chatham House [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
