13 MPs did not spend a single paisa from the MPLAD funds in the last one year

: All 21 Lok Sabha MPs of Odisha have shown dismal performance during the past year, according to an audit report.

The audit was conducted by Youth for Social Development (YSD) to assess the performance of MPs as elected representatives.

Only three MPs of Odisha crossed 30 points out of a total score of 100. During this audit, key parameters such as attendance in Parliament sessions, participation in Parliament debates, questions asked in Parliament and utilisation of MPLAD funds were taken into account.

Data from government websites up to May 31, 2015 was analyzed during this study.

It was interesting to note that while Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahatab secured the highest score of 36, Central minister and Sundergarh MP, Juel Oram had the lowest score at 3.44.

As per this report, 13 Lok Sabha MPs of Odisha had not spend a single paisa from their MPLAD fund during the past year till May 31.

This study pointed out that while spending their MPLAD funds, most MPs were neglecting essential sectors and were promoting projects only for political gains.

Expenditure on ‘other public facilities’ sector got highest MPLAD funding from Odisha MPs, which amounted to 35.46 per cent of the total money spent.

But out of the MPLAD fund used under ‘other public facilities’, 60.17 per cent was spent on building community centers.

As per the the organisation, in most of the case,s these community centers were nothing but establishments attached to religious institutions like temples, which they said is a violation of MPLAD norms.

“They seem to be using MPLAD funds for an image building exercise keeping in view of the next elections”, YSD members said.

This report pointed out that two MPs of Odisha, Rama Chandra Hansda of Mayurbhanj and Tathagat Satpathy of Dhenkanal had not selected Panchayats in their constituency for inclusion in the ‘Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).

Union Minister Mr Oram had the worst performance score in attendance in Parliament and scored only 0.28 points. As per the report, he attended Parliament for a single day during last one year.

On the other hand, Rita Tarai, the Bhadrak MP and Kulamani Samal representing Sambalpur had cent percent attendance in Parliament.

Five MPs of Odisha, Mr Oram, Mr Satpathy, Prasanna Patsani and Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh had not raised a single question in Lok Sabha in the last one year. Bhadrak MP Arjun Sethi had zero participation in Lok Sabha debates.

The report suggested MPs must be more serious about their duty towards the electorate in Parliament.

They demanded political parties and candidates to disclose their plan of MPLAD fund utilization during the election campaign.

Most MPs were neglecting essential sectors and promoting projects only for political gains

Expenditure on ‘other public facilities’ sector got the highest MPLAD funding from Odisha MPs