Dispur Bends Own Policy on MLA’s Local Area Development (MLALAD) Schemes

GUWAHATI: A total of 10 of the 126 MLAs in the State are not supposed to get a single penny in the form of MLA’s Local Area Development (MLALAD) funds for fiscal 2018-19 that ended on March 31, 2019. This is because their performance in the utilization of MLALAD funds of the two preceding financial years is below par. However, the Local Area Development (LAD) funds of these 10 MLAs will be released as and when they meet the relaxed benchmark set for fund use.

For the development of his/her local area, each of the 126 MLAs of the State gets Rs 1 crore annually. However, Assam has the dubious distinction of being too slow in the utilization of such funds, plaguing development. With the BJP coming to power in 2016 at Dispur, the government set a policy for release of MLALAD funds that could speed up fund use, and hence development. The policy formulated by the BJP-led government at Dispur was – to get MLALAD fund released, an MLA has to utilize the bulk of funds of the two preceding financial years – 75 percent of the immediately preceding year and 100 percent of the year before that year.

However, in the recent fund utilization appraisal meeting of the Transformation and Development (T&D) Department it came to light that around 55 MLAs of the State could meet the benchmark set for the release of MLALAD funds for the year 2018-19. In such a situation, over 70 MLAs cannot get their MLALAD funds released for fiscal 2018-19.

The precarious situation has led the State government to bend its own benchmark for the release of funds for the development of MLAs’ local areas. The relaxed benchmark for the release of such funds is – to get MLALAD fund of a given year released, an MLA has to utilize 70 percent funds of the immediately preceding year and 85 percent of fund of the year before. Strangely enough, as many as 10 MLAs cannot meet this relaxed benchmark also. These under-performing MLAs will get their MLALAD funds released only after meeting the relaxed benchmark.

According to T&D department sources, AGP’s Bongaigaon MLA and Food and Civil Supplies, Pension and Public Grievances Minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury and Congress’ Baghbor MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed have shown better performance in using their respective MLALAD funds.

An MLA has to sanction schemes for the utilization of MLALAD fund and form construction committees for implementation of schemes. The responsibility of implementation of schemes lies with the construction committees. The respective deputy commissioners should monitor the implementation of such schemes so as to ensure speedy and proper utilization of funds. Since these are discretionary funds of MLAs, it’s their bounden duty to monitor such schemes and utilization of funds.

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