Uttar Pradesh Members of Parliament Performance Report

February 11, 2017

Uttar Pradesh Members of Parliament Performance Report

Introduction

The study conducted by US-based news portal TwoCircles.net and commissioned by IAMC, finds that 71 crores of the unspent funds were in 17 Dalit-majority constituencies and over 64 crores unspent in 16 other constituencies where Muslims are over 20% of the population. The MPs in both cases are from the BJP. Every MP is given Rs. 5 crore per annum for development works in their respective constituencies.

BJP’s claim of inclusive development, as articulated in their slogan of “sabka saath sabka vikaas,” rings hollow in the face of such indifference and inaction. It is also an indication of what UP can expect, given BJP’s penchant for granting election tickets to criminals.

Report Observations:

There are a whopping 333.6 crores of MPLAD funds that remain unspent. 71 crores of these funds are allocated for 17 reserved seats.

All “Muslim and Dalit seats” are represented by BJP. Three “Muslim seats” are reserved i.e. only SC candidates can contest from there.

Three ministers come from the “Muslim seats” but only one from “Dalit seats”. Krishna Raj, from Shahjahanpur(SC) was inducted in June, 2016 as Minister of State for Women and Children Development.

BJP has 10 female MPs from UP and five of those are from reserved seats and three of those five seats are also “Muslim seats.”

Average of the percent utilized for MPLAD funds drops for “Dalit seats” to 58.9% while it goes up significantly for “Muslim seats” to 67.8% while the average of all seats is 60.8%.

Average of debate participation by MPs drops from 54 for all to 44 for “Muslim seats” and to only 29 for “Dalit Seats”.

Average number of questions by all MPs is 99, for “Muslim seats” 98, and drops significantly for Dalit MPs with just 85 questions. Three Dalit MPs have zero questions asked; another Dalit MP has so far asked just one question in the last 2.5 years.