Sant Seechewal leads Punjab Rajya Sabha MPs in MPLADS fund utilisation

Information on MP Sanjeev Arora, who resigned to contest the Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll, is not available.

Sant Seechewal leads with over ₹9 crore spent

Rajya Sabha MP and environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal has spent ₹9.34 crore out of his ₹14.72 crore MPLADS allocation, making him the top spender among Punjab’s MPs. Known for his community-driven development and environmental work, Seechewal has primarily utilised his funds to address water scarcity in villages.

A major portion of his funds—over ₹7.5 crore—has gone toward installing 215 water tanks across 14 districts in Punjab. The initiative, linked to the 25th anniversary of his Kali Bein cleanliness campaign, has been widely appreciated in rural areas.

Raghav Chadha among least spenders

In contrast, AAP’s youngest MP Raghav Chadha has utilised just ₹70.86 lakh out of his ₹18.82 crore allocation in nearly three and a half years—less than 4 per cent of the total funds available to him.

Similarly, other MPs have also fallen behind. Sandeep Pathak has spent ₹2.76 crore of ₹18.32 crore, Ashok Mittal has used ₹2.35 crore out of ₹17.35 crore, Harbhajan Singh has spent ₹5.74 crore out of ₹17.19 crore, and Vikramjit Singh Sahney has utilised ₹5.76 crore of ₹14.71 crore.

Except for Sant Seechewal, none of the MPs have utilised even 50 per cent of their available funds.

Interestingly, among AAP’s Rajya Sabha members, Sant Seechewal is known to be the least formally educated and also the least wealthy, with declared assets only in lakhs. In contrast, his five colleagues are crorepatis or even billionaires.

Betrayal of Punjab, says SAD leader

Criticising the AAP MPs, Jarnail Singh Garhdiwala, member of the working committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Revived), said that those who have failed to use even half of their funds during half of their tenure “have no moral right to remain in office.” He termed their inaction a betrayal of Punjab, adding that the MPs did not even use their discretionary funds to help flood-affected victims during recent natural calamities.