Unspent MPLAD funds highest in UP

The more than 100-odd members of Parliament from India’s most populated state of Uttar Pradesh have been least active in spending the funds allocated to them annually for local area development. Unspent funds allocated under Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme for UP stood at Rs 408.88 crore, highest among all states and union territories.

“Across the country almost Rs 2,627.98 crore of funds allocated to MPs under the has been lying unspent with district authorities till June 2011,” minister of state for statistics and programme implementation Srikant Jena said in a written reply in Parliament on Friday. Under the MPLAD scheme, the government allocates Rs 5 crore every year to each Member of Parliament to development of his local area. The funds have to be specified for specific purposes with the help of local administration. Bihar and Maharashtra are the other two states with the maximum amount of unspent funds.