The three Members of Parliament of Bengaluru spent ₹55.53 crore out of their combined total of ₹60 crore from the MP Local Area Development Funds allocated to them between 2014 and 2018, according to a report by Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC).
The report, released on Thursday, shows that D.V. Sadananda Gowda, MP for Bengaluru North, utilised his entire allocation of ₹20 crore, while Ananth Kumar, who died last year, spent ₹16.44 crore in his constituency, Bengaluru South. P.C. Mohan spent 95% of his ₹20 crore till 2018 in Bengaluru Central.
B.PAC collated data from the Deputy Commissioner’s (Bengaluru Urban) office between 2014 and 2018, and found that 61% of the funds were spent within Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike limits. Unsurprisingly, water remained the highest priority for the MPs. Around 26% of the funds was spent on drinking water and water infrastructure. Mr. Gowda tops the list with an expenditure of ₹6.36 crore on drinking water. Infrastructure and public amenities took up 23.4% of the expenses.
Mr. Gowda spent a quarter of his funds in Malleswaram and Hebbal, while Mr. Mohan spent 28% of his funds in Chamarajpet. In Bengaluru South, Basavanagudi saw the highest allocation, of ₹4.03 crore.
Among the key projects listed by B.PAC are the foot overbridge at ITPL (₹2.86 crore spent by Mr. Mohan), supply of medical equipment at Vani Vilas and Victoria hospitals (₹3.38 crore, also by Mr. Mohan), and the construction of a volleyball and basketball stadium at Malleswaram (₹2.15 crore, spent by Mr. Gowda).
