Delhi government to increase MLA Local Area Development fund from Rs 4 crore to 10 crore

The Delhi government on Tuesday approved a proposal to increase the MLA Local Area Development (LAD) fund from Rs 4 crore to 10 crore annually.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Informing the Delhi Assembly about the Cabinet’s decision, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said it was a demand of every legislator to increase the MLA LAD fund.

“The Cabinet has decided to increase the MLA LAD fund from the existing Rs 4 crore to Rs 10 crore in a year,” Sisodia told the Assembly on the second day of the Monsoon Session.

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It was a good example of decentralisation of funds and functioning, he said, adding the Delhi government is the first of its kind in the country which wants to ensure local development through MLAs from different parties.

“The utilisation of MLA LAD funds is at the discretion of legislators and can be used for any purpose or local project,” Sisodia said.

Asked about problems faced by legislators in spending funds, Sisodia said the Cabinet has also given power to the Urban Development minister to make minor changes in guidelines meant for the MLA LAD fund.

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In Delhi, an MLA currently gets Rs 4 crore in a year to execute various works in his or her constituency.

Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain said the Cabinet’s decision will be implemented by this year.

Sisodia said the Cabinet has also approved another proposal to set up a foreign language academy in the national capital, apart from several Indian language academies like Telugu, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Gujarati, among others.