Centre withholds development funds
of all but 2 Bengal MPs
Arup Chanda in Calcutta
The Centre has blocked the funds meant for members of Parliament from West Bengal. Of the 58 MPs from the state, 56 have had their funds withheld for either not following the guidelines or failing to submit usage certificates. The total amount held up is Rs650 million, or more than 50 per cent of the funds allotted to MPs from the state.
The only two MPs who used the Rs40 million allotted to each over the last two financial years are Lok Sabha member Bir Singh Mahato of the All-India Forward Bloc and Rajya Sabha member Jayanta Roy of the Revolutionary Socialist Party.
Among those whose funds have not been released are at least 10 MPs who did not get a single penny because they did not submit "proper" projects or for technical reasons. Leading the pack is none other than fiery Trinamul Congress president Mamata Banerjee.
The others are Lok Sabha members R B Rai, Ananda Pathak, Shamik Lahiri, and Radhika Ranjan Pramanik and Rajya Sabha members Gurudas Dasgupta, Biplab Dasgupta, Ashok Mitra, Debabrata Biswas and Mohammad Salim.
None of these members could spend a paisa out of the funds earmarked for release in four instalments in the last two financial years.
According to sources in the central programme implementation ministry, "most of these MPs have not submitted concrete proposals or their projects have not been approved as they did not adhere to the guidelines. The reasons were different in the case of each MP".
Though West Bengal tops the list as far as the number of MPs failing to use their funds goes, the consolation is that no Bengali MP has used his funds to pay the salaries of her staff, the sources said. In many other states, the sources said, MPs have paid salaries out of these funds, which goes against the guidelines for their use.
The guidelines mention 24 ways in which to spend the funds. These include educational purposes, buildings for social welfare like old-age homes and creches, roads, irrigation, and social forestry.
Surprisingly, however, the funds cannot be used for projects relating to culture even if it is given to any state government. Hence, the Centre blocked the funds of Communist Party MP Gurudas Dasgupta, who had given part of the funds allotted to him to Nandan, the cultural complex belonging to the West Bengal government.
Following repeated appeals from the Bengal government, a high-level meeting presided over by Union Minister of State for Programme Implementation Ram Naik was held in New Delhi on March 13. There, Bengal Chief Secretary Manish Gupta had to admit that Dasgupta's funds were not being used according to the guidelines and promise to submit a report to the Centre in this regard.
Many MPs from West Bengal think the guidelines ought to be amended as the funds are meant for developmental work. While Lok Sabha members can spend Rs10 million each year within their respective constituencies, Rajya Sabha members can spend a like amount anywhere in the state from which they are elected.
The MPs argue that building a socio-cultural complex like Nandan is not only a developmental project, but one that will provide jobs to many unemployed people. "It is also an economically feasible project as it will earn revenue unlike many other social welfare projects. So why should we not be allowed to use our funds for such purposes?" they ask.
Since most of the MPs from the state belong to the Left Front and the sum involved is quite large, the ruling Marxists have directed them to consult various departments of the state government and submit new proposals to seek disbursement of their respective funds. The Front hopes to benefit if the MPs can obtain the money and use it in their constituencies, as assembly elections are due in West Bengal in two years' time.
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