Of citizens’ vigilance and good governance

Based on the data collected with the help of RTI applications,details about the MLAs attendance in Assembly sessions,the amount spent by them from their yearly local area development (LAD) fund,the questions raised by them in the Assembly etc have been made available.

An MLA receives Rs 1 crore every year from the LAD fund that can be carried forward to the next year. According to the report,15 Congress MLAs have jointly spent Rs 39.8 crore between January 2007 to June 2009 out of which 21.6 per cent was utilised for community development.

During the same time,five BJP MLAs utilised 26.8 per cent of the total of Rs 12.23 crore on building repairs,followed by drainage and community development. NCP’s four MLAs used 36 per cent of the 9.32 crore on building repairs,while Shiv Sena spent 30.87 per cent of 23 crore on buildings,18 per cent on water supply and toilets.In terms of questions raised during the Assembly sessions,all parties except Shiv Sena and ABS,raised maximum questions on crime followed by civic issues,buildings,health and education. Shiv Sena that spent most of its funds on buildings also raised most questions pertaining to buildings.

Nitai Mehta,managing trustee of Praja said,“We do not intend to rate or rank the performances of MLAs or parties. We are just making the information available for the citizens to see and interpret.”