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Patna,(BiharTimes): The Nitish government’s decision not to engage the state administrative machinery in the implementation of the schemes taken up under the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund on the recommendations of the respective Member of Parliament from Bihar has come under attack from within the National Democratic Alliance. |
It is none else but the Bihar BJP president, Dr C P Thakur, who on Monday expressed his reservation on the Nitish government’s stance on the issue.
He urged the state government to immediately end the stalemate over the issue of utilization of the fund and added that some ways should be sorted out to resolve the matter.
Bihar sends 40 MPs to Lok Sabha and 16 to Rajya Sabha. With each MP getting Rs five crore annually the total amount they get in a single year is Rs 280 crore. The BJP state president now wants this entire fund to be pooled together and utilized on the construction of the buildings of the upcoming medical college at Bettiah in West Champaran district.
The Nitish government has already abolished the MLA/MLC Local Area Development fund to the tune of Rs 318 crore. The legislators used to get annually Rs one crore. It has been replaced by CM`s Kshetriya Vikas Yojana (Area Development Scheme) under which the schemes would be taken up for implementation on the recommendations of the legislators.
The state government took the plea that it has taken this step because there was widespread corruption in the MLA/MLC Local Area Development fund.
It needs to be recalled that some weeks back both the chief minister and the deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi sought an additional six per cent contingency fund from the Centre to enable it to develop the required infrastructure for the implementation of the MPLAD scheme in the state.
The argument was that the contingency fund had become necessary as the state government had abolished MLA/MLC Local Area Development fund and the district magistrates had been relieved of the responsibility of approving the development schemes under their respective jurisdiction. After the abolition of MLA quota fund, districts lack any agency to implement the MPLAD scheme. The DMs have now been assigned the duty of only reviewing and monitoring the progress of development schemes.
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