MLAS’ FUND HIKED FROM ₹1.5 CRORE TO ₹2 CRORE

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday announced a Rs 50-lakh hike in the state MLAs’ local area development fund from Rs 1.50 crore to Rs 2 crore annually. The announcement was made on the last day of the budget session of the UP assembly. It was also announced that Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be not charged on development works.

Till a nodal agency comes into being for development works in assembly constituencies, the state government has decided to hike the MLA local area development fund from Rs 1.50 crore to Rs 2 crore, he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Suresh Srivastava suggested the state government should allot plots or flats to lawmakers at subsidised rates in Lucknow, Ghaziabad or Noida. The salary and perks of the MLAs should also be revised in view of inflation, he said and demanded that state government either withdraw the local area development scheme or hike it to Rs 5 crore.

Cutting across party lines, the BJP, SP, BSP and the Congress MLAs supported the resolution moved by Srivastava. Adityanath rejected the demand for allotment of houses and plots. He said the state government was committed to provide houses to 10 lakh homeless people. He also said the state government was also contemplating amendment in the MLA local area development fund. Instead of releasing fund under the scheme, the state government planned to set up a nodal agency for the development works in the assembly constituencies. The MLAs will submit the development proposal to the agency comprising officers of various government departments. The agency will complete the projects on priority basis, he said.