As Gujarat Assembly tenure ends, 1/4th of MLA LAD funds unspent, set to lapse

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Those whose funds will lapse include Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, who is seeking re-election from his constituency Ghatlodia, and his predecessor Vijay Rupani, an MLA from Rajkot West who is not contesting this time. Both are urban constituencies.

According to state government figures from the General Administration Department online, only a sum of Rs 803.98 crore of the total MLA LAD funds allocated between 2017-18 and 2022-23 has been spent.

The figures also reveal that, though, 46,068 works were completed using the MLA LAD funds in Gujarat, a sizeable 9,815 works are yet to begin, 6,688 are incomplete and 5,212 got cancelled during this period.

Under the MLA LAD scheme, each legislator can recommend or suggest works worth Rs 1.5 crore every year in their respective constituencies. The planning office in each district gives the administrative approval for these works and also maintains an account of the funds.

“Such a high unspent amount is definitely a cause for concern as there are many villages and areas in Gujarat where panchayats do not have money for local projects. The unspent amounts will lapse once the term of the Assembly ends. The credit or blame goes to the respective MLA, as he or she issues the recommendation letter for a particular work. Even a small bench set up with MLA LAD funds carries the MLA’s name,” says Pankti Jog, the state coordinator for the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

In CM Patel’s constituency Ghatlodia, about 27% of the MLA LAD funds remain unspent at the end of the past five years. Rupani’s seat of Rajkot West fares much worse, with 42% of the funds unspent. While 92-100% of the funds allocated in 2017-20 for projects in the constituency were spent, since 2021, when Rupani was removed as CM, not a single rupee has been spent in the constituency. The 33 works allocated in this period are yet to begin.

The trend is slightly better in constituencies represented by Leader of the Opposition Sukhram Rathwa and former LoP Paresh Dhanani, both of the Congress. Only 8.31% of the MLA LAD funds allocated to Rathwa’s Jetpur constituency in Chhota Udepur remain unspent. The figure for Dhanani’s Amreli stands at 26%.

The spending appears to have slowed down after the pandemic began in early 2020. From 2017 to 2020, almost 85-98% of the funds were spent. 2021-22 and 2022-till now has seen only 64% and 14% of the grants being spent.

If in 2018-19, of the Rs 268 crore given as grant, only Rs 5.5 crore remained unspent, in 2022-till now, of the Rs 173 crore grants given, Rs 149 crore is unspent.

As per the Model Code of Conduct guidelines, no fresh release of funds under MLA LAD funds can be done for any scheme in an area where election is in progress.

About about the challenges in spending MLA LAD funds, Jog said, “There is a need to revise and revisit the guidelines pertaining to these funds. Today, most of the money goes into building community halls, or water projects, crematoriums, etc. These funds are not being used innovatively to meet the present challenges. Secondly, there is little monitoring with regard to works undertaken and a large number of projects lie incomplete or are yet to be started.”

Officials from the General Administrative Department of the Gujarat government did not respond to phone calls and messages on the matter.