Hyderabad: The state government has accorded administrative sanction to provide Rs 3 crore to every legislator and Legislative Council member under the Constituency Development Programme. Legislators in the GHMC’s 625 sq. km area will get about Rs 129 crore.
The government, however, has not evaluated how funds under the CDP were spent in the last two years or the Rs 50 lakh was allocated per ward during the Swachh Hyderabad programme or even the corporator funds.
An analysis made by a non-profit organisation revealed that no durable assets were created in the previous term. Money was spent on lighting places of worship, building compound walls for graveyards etc.
Mr M. Padmanabha Reddy of the Forum for Good Governance said, “The expenditure of funds allocated by the government is subject to the whims and fancies of the individual MLAs and MLCs. The guidelines for spending the amount issued about six years back are vague and are rarely adhered to by the district administrations due to various reasons including political pressure.”
He said the funds were not channelled through the regular process of treasury control. “Every rupee spent is meant for the development of that area only. That being the case, why the special budget in the name of Constituency Develop-ment Programme,” he asked.
Mr Padmanabha Reddy said the government should have evaluated the expenditure incurred and works taken up during the last two years under CDP before sanctioning fresh funds. To this, a TRS Greater Hyderabad leader, who didn’t want to be quoted, said that after the Swachh Hyderabad programme, the CMO had received thousands of proposals.
“The money has been allocated after evaluating how much was required in each constituency. However, it’s not yet released. This falls under the Assembly Constitu-ency Development funds and it is meant for civic works,” he said.
The TRS leader said that Rs 2 crore was released per MLA for water and sewerage networks. “Every corporator will also be allocated Rs 1 crore to carry out civic works in their respective wards. The expenditure will be monitored; all works will be allotted only through tenders. The MLAs will have to give proposals including the work cost, and after approval, the money will be released,” he said.
