Dried up Dhankar lake in Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh

Himalayan communities are generally more vulnerable to climate change because they have fewer livelihood options, limited infrastructure and a high dependence on natural resources, the study said.

Aimed at identifying the drivers of vulnerability and developing ways of adapting to and mitigating their impact, the study titled ‘Climate Vulnerability Assessment for the Indian Himalayan Region Using a Common Framework’ was conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) at Mandi and Guwahati and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) at Bengaluru.

The study was conducted in collaboration with the authorities in all the 12 states in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR): Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Of these, West Bengal and Assam are only partially covered by the Himalayas.

The vulnerability index is highest for Assam (0.72), Mizoram (0.71) and J&K (0.62), while Sikkim is the least vulnerable state with an index of 0.42. Sikkim’s advantage is only relative to other states, the study cautioned.

Around 50 million Indians reside in IHR and depend on the Himalayan ecology for water, food and energy. In these regions, glaciers feed up to 70% of agriculture. With climate change affecting the Himalayan landscape and weather patterns causing longer summers and shorter winters, the livelihoods and survival of these communities are threatened, IndiaSpend reported on October 12, 2018.

A rise of at least 0.5°C in the temperature has been recorded in the upper Himalayas, accompanied by an almost 10% variation in humidity levels. The temperature variation is causing the Himalayan glaciers, a part of the larger cryosphere–the part of the earth system that stores 75% of all frozen freshwater on earth–to melt. This has pushed up the odds of extreme events such as avalanches.

The changing temperature pattern poses a threat to the water security and sustainability of the Himalayan river basins. With an increase in water flow in high-altitude lakes, the chances of floods also increase, IndiaSpend reported. In Himachal Pradesh, as per this 2013 study, farmers reported a decline in production and delayed harvest, blaming reduced snowfall. Nearly 80% of the farmers living at an altitude of 8,000 ft reported a noticeable decrease in snowfall and nearly 90% of those living at altitudes of 9,800 ft and higher said the same.

India’s greenest and wettest Himalayan state, Meghalaya, is becoming warmer as rains there become more uncertain, leaving a quarter of its forests “highly vulnerable” to climate change, IndiaSpend reported on March 23, 2019, citing a 2018 study commissioned by the state government and carried out by the IISc. Its plant and animal life are being impacted, disturbing the lives of communities as well.

The new climate change study is significant because it has produced India’s first vulnerability map. One of its aims is to evolve a common methodology, and determine how states and their districts are equipped to deal with the risks of climate change. A geospatial application has also been launched depicting climate vulnerabilities and risks at the state and district level.

The research team has recommended similar vulnerability studies in other Indian states.

Lack of information, infrastructure up the risk

The drivers of vulnerability vary across states. In Assam, the drivers include low per capita income, low percentage area under crop insurance and low participation in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS), a poverty alleviation programme that promises 100 days of paid work to poor families. Lack of access to information and infrastructure are factors that make it difficult for communities in the state to cope with any climate variability. The western border district of Dhubri, the eastern district of Lakhimpur and the central district of Sonitpur are Assam’s most vulnerable.

Source: Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment

Mizoram’s agriculture sector was found to be highly sensitive, with the second lowest percentage of area under irrigation among the 12 states. The state also has poor connectivity–its road density is the third lowest among the IHS–and poor access to information and infrastructure.
J&K lags in road density, area under crop insurance, area under forests per 1,000 rural households, percentage of marginal farmers, percentage area under horticulture crops, livestock-to-human ratio, and percentage of women in the workforce.

Himachal Pradesh, another vulnerable state, was found to have inadequate irrigation facilities–only 20-21% of its net cropped area is irrigated and the rest is mostly dependent on rains. But the low yield variability of food grains grown here reduces the sensitivity of agricultural production to climate change. The only drivers of vulnerability observed were low livestock-to-human ratio and a large presence of small and marginal farmers (who own less than two hectares of land), who constitute 87.95% of the total peasant population and own 54.17% of the total land.

Vulnerability assessment, the first step to adapting

The first step in adapting to future climate change is to reduce vulnerability, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested in its summary for policymakers, which the current report references.

“Vulnerability refers to the inherent characteristic–both biophysical and socioeconomic–of a system. The current assessment helps in identification of the major drivers of vulnerability, both at state as well as district level, for the 12 Indian Himalayan states,” said Shyamasree Dasgupta, co-principal investigator of the study and an assistant professor at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT, Mandi.

How India is dealing with potential crisis

“The government institutions are likely to find the report useful,” said Dasgupta. “Principal secretaries of some of the states (both Himalayan and non-Himalayan) were present during the dissemination workshop. However, it would be better to consider this study in the context of the assessment of climate vulnerability and climate change adaptation rather than disaster management.”

The central government is already implementing the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) introduced in June 2008. Climate change cells have been set up in 11 Himalayan states to undertake studies on climate change risk and vulnerability assessment.

The government also launched a National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change (NAFCC) in 2015-16 to assist states and union territories with projects and actions. Some 26 projects had been approved across India at a total cost of Rs 648.9 crore, Lok Sabha data from March 9, 2018, said.
 

Source: Lok Sabha and IHCAP

(Ahmad is an intern at IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend

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As many as 392 (25%) of 1,594 candidates whose affidavits were studied have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more. Among the major parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Samajwadi Party have the highest proportion (90% from SP, 84% from BJP and 82% from Congress) of ‘crorepati’ candidates.

Nearly 43% of all candidates have declared they have a graduate degree or above, while 3.6% have declared they are just literate and 1.4% are illiterate.

More than a third of candidates are aged between 25 and 40 years, while nearly half are between 41 and 60 years.

The third phase of polling began on April 23, 2019. Affidavits of 18 candidates were not analysed as they were not properly scanned or were incomplete.

Criminal charges

Of the 230 candidates facing serious criminal charges, 14 have declared they have been convicted in the past. Persons convicted are debarred from contesting elections for six years from the date of conviction, but only if they have been sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more.

Among Congress’s candidates, 27% (24 of 90) face serious criminal charges. As many as 27% (26 of 97) of BJP candidates face serious criminal charges, 10% (9 of 92) of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 27% (6 of 22) of the Shiv Sena, 32% (6 of 19) of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), 50% (5 of 10) of Nationalist Congress Party, 40% (4 of 10) of Samajwadi Party and 44% (4 of 9) candidates from All India Trinamool Congress face serious criminal charges.

13 candidates have declared they are facing cases related to murder, 30 have declared cases related to attempt to murder, 14 related to kidnapping, 29 related to crime against women and 26 related to hate speech, the ADR analysis shows.

Among the major parties, 44% (40 of 90) Congress candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. As many as 39% (38 of 97) candidates from BJP and 17% (16 of 92) candidates from BSP have declared criminal cases against themselves.

In the second phase, 16% were facing criminal charges, and in the first phase candidates, 17% candidates were facing criminal charges, IndiaSpend reported on April 17, 2019 and on April 11, 2019.

The highest proportion of candidates facing criminal charges are from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): 60% (6 of 10) face criminal charges.

Assets of Rs 1 crore or above

25% candidates have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more. Among the major parties, 74 (82%) out of 90 candidates from the Congress, 81 (84%) out of 97 candidates from BJP, 12 (13%) candidates from BSP, 9 (90%) out of 10 candidates from SP, 10 (53%) out of 19 candidates from CPI(M), 9 (41%) out of 22 candidates from Shiv Sena and 7 (70%) out of 10 candidates from NCP have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

The top three states with the highest number of crorepati candidates are Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka: 75 candidates from Gujarat, 71 from Maharashtra and 46 from Karnataka have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

Candidates who are crorepatis

The three richest candidates in terms of assets are Devendra Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party from Etah constituency of Uttar Pradesh with total assets worth more than Rs 204 crore, Udayanraje Bhosale of Nationalist Congress Party from the Satara constituency of Maharashtra whose total assets are worth more than Rs 199 crore, and Praveen Singh Aron from the Bareilly constituency of Uttar Pradesh who has total assets worth more than Rs 147 crore.

The top three candidates with the highest declared income during the past financial year are from Odisha and Maharashtra. Pinaki Misra from Biju Janata Dal, contesting from Puri in Odisha declared an income of more than Rs 24 crore. Misra has mentioned advocate as profession and source of income.

Supriya Sadanand Sule of Nationalist Congress Party from Baramati in Maharashtra has declared income of more than Rs 1 crore. She has declared business as her source of income. Hindurao Naik Nimbalkar of BJP from Madha, Maharashtra has income of more than Rs 3 crore and business and agriculture as its source.

There are 11 candidates who have declared no assets. The candidate who has declared the least assets (excluding the zero assets candidates) is Sreejith PR, an independent candidate from the Wayanad constituency of Kerala, who has declared a bank balance of Rs 120.
Johnson Vasant Kolhapure, an independent candidate from the Pune constituency of Maharashtra, has declared Rs 207.

Educational qualifications

Of 1,594 candidates, 788 (49%) have declared their educational qualification to be between 5th and 12th standard while 681 (43%) candidates have a graduate degree or above. As many as 57 (3.6%) candidates have declared they are just literate and 23 (1.4%) are illiterate.

Age profile

More than a third (35%), or 562 of 1,594 candidates, are in the 25-40 years age group while nearly half (48%), or 760 candidates, are in the 41-60 years age group as per the affidavits analysed by ADR.

As many as 265 (17%) candidates have declared their age in the group 61-80 years while three candidates are aged above 80 years. Four candidates have not given their age.

Gender profile

Of the 1,594 candidates, 143 (9%) female candidates, one candidate from the third gender and 1,450 (91%) male candidates are contesting the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

(Ahmad is an intern at IndiaSpend.)

We welcome feedback. Please write to respond@indiaspend.org. We reserve the right to edit responses for language and grammar.

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About 27% or 423 of 1,590 candidates have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more. Among the major parties, all candidates of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) are crorepatis, as are 96% (23 of 24) of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidates. Assets include total movable and immovable assets of the candidate, his or her spouse and dependents.

Candidates filing nomination papers for contesting an election have to submit an affidavit (Form 26) furnishing personal details that include details of income and assets, with PAN and income tax return as proof. A candidate also has to list the details of any criminal cases he or she has been charged with. If a candidate is found to have filed a false affidavit, he or she can be imprisoned for up to six months and/or made to pay a fine.

The affidavits filed by the candidates contesting the 17th Lok Sabha elections are publicly available at the Election Commission’s website.

IndiaSpend analysed and compared the self-sworn affidavits of 44 candidates who are sitting members of the 16th Lok Sabha and are recontesting in phase two, with their 2014 Lok Sabha election affidavits available at the Election Commission of India’s affidavit website and affidavit archive, to calculate the percent change in their declared assets. Our analysis shows that the 39 candidates whose assets increased saw a 67% increase on average, whereas the five candidates whose assets shrank saw an average decrease of 19% since 2014.

The total wealth of the 44 sitting MPs as declared in 2019 amounts to more than Rs 1,262 crore ($182 million), equivalent to the total cost of constructing 6,000 km of flexible rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

Top three MPs with highest increase in assets

Of 39 members of parliament (MPs) whose assets increased between 2014-2019, 15 are from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), six are from the Indian National Congress (Congress), four are from the AIADMK, three from the Shiv Sena, two each from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Rashtriya Janata Dal, one each from All India Trinamool Congress, All India United Democratic Front, Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), Janata Dal (United), Nationalist Congress Party and Pattali Makkal Katchi.

The MP who saw the highest percentage of increase in their assets is DK Suresh of the Congress, the MP for the Bangalore Rural constituency of Karnataka. In 2014, his assets were worth Rs 85 crore which increased to Rs 338 crore in 2019–an increase of 295%. Suresh’s attendance in the Lok Sabha is 85%, he has participated in 91 debates against the national average of 67.1, and has asked 648 questions against the national average of 293, according to PRS Legislative Research data. He has five criminal cases pending against him, all of which are under sections of Karnataka Forest Rules 1969 and Karnataka Forest Act 1963. He is accused of quarrying and erecting electrical lines in a reserved forest area.

Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav of the Shiv Sena from the Buldhana constituency of Maharashtra saw a 223% growth in his assets. His assets in 2014 were Rs 3.6 crore, which increased to Rs 11.6 crore in 2019. He has had 70% attendance, participated in 51 debates and asked 492 questions. Jadhav has three pending criminal cases with seven serious charges under the Indian Penal Code, relating to false evidence, criminal breach of trust, and cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.

Jual Oram of the BJP, the outgoing Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and MP for Sundargarh constituency in Odisha, had declared assets worth Rs 2.4 crore in 2014, which have undergone a 206% increase in 2019 to Rs 7.4 crore. Oram has two pending cases with charges related to unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint, and danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation.

Hema Malini, a star campaigner of the BJP and the MP for the Mathura constituency in Uttar Pradesh, has seen a 45.6% increase in her assets since 2014, from Rs 178 crore then to Rs 259 crore in 2019.

MPs with biggest decrease in assets

Our analysis shows that the assets of five sitting MPs contesting in phase 2 have decreased over their 16th Lok Sabha term. The assets of Biren Singh Engti of the Congress, representing the Autonomous District constituency in Assam, decreased by 78%, from Rs 3 crore in 2014 to Rs 78 lakh in 2019.

P Venugopal of the AIADMK representing Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu, saw a 20% decrease; Farooq Abdullah, J&K National Conference MP for Srinagar, J&K, had a 14% decrease; J Jayavardhan of the AIADMK from Chennai South, Tamil Nadu, had a 3% decrease; and BN Chandrappa of the Congress from Chitradurga, Karnataka, had a 0.8% decrease in assets between 2014 and 2019.

Source: Election Commission of India

Candidates who are Crorepatis

Among the major parties, all candidates of the AIADMK, 96% (23 of 24) of the DMK, 88% (45 of 51) of the BJP, 87% (46 of 53) of the Congress and 26% (21 of 80) of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

The three richest candidates in the second phase are all from the Congress. Vasanthakumar H from the Kanyakumari constituency of Tamil Nadu has total assets worth more than Rs 417 crore; Uday Singh from the Purnia constituency of Bihar has total assets worth more than Rs 341 crore; and DK Suresh, who is contesting again from the Bangalore Rural constituency of Karnataka, has total assets worth more than Rs 338 crore.

The three richest candidates also have the highest liabilities. Vasanthakumar has liabilities of more than Rs 154 crore, Singh’s liabilities are more than Rs 71 crore and Suresh has liabilities of more than Rs 51 crore.

The top three candidates with the highest declared income during the past financial year are Vasanthakumar H of the Congress from the Kanyakumari constituency of Tamil Nadu, who is also the richest candidate; Manju A of the BJP from the Hassan constituency of Karnataka, and Arun Wankhade of the BSP from the Amravati constituency of Maharashtra.

Vasanthakumar has income of more than Rs 28 crore and has mentioned business as his source of income. Manju has income of more than Rs 12 crore and has mentioned self-employment as his source of income, while Wankhade whose income is more than Rs 4 crore has stated that his income is sourced from property business, consultancy and contractorship.

Sixteen candidates have declared no assets. After these, Shri Venkateshwara Maha Swamiji of Hindustan Janata Party from the Solapur constituency of Maharashtra has declared the least assets–worth Rs 9.

Rajesh P and Raja N, independent candidates from the Mayiladuthurai constituency of Tamil Nadu, have declared assets worth Rs 100 each.

Criminal charges

Among the major parties, the highest proportion of candidates facing criminal charges are from DMK, 46% (11 of 24) of whose candidates face criminal charges. Of 53 Congress candidates, 43% (23) have declared criminal cases pending against them, compared with 31% (16 of 51) from the BJP and 20% (16 of 80) from the BSP. Among other parties, 36% (4 of 11) of the Shiv Sena’s candidates and 14% (3 of 22) of AIADMK candidates have declared criminal charges.

Of the 167 candidates facing serious criminal charges are 17 of the Congress’s 53 (32%), 10 of the BJP’s 51 (20%), 10 of the BSP’s 80 (13%), 7 of the DMK’s 24 (29%), 3 of the AIADMK’s 22 (14%) and 1 of the Shiv Sena’s 11 (9%).

Three candidates facing serious criminal charges have declared that they have been convicted in the past. Six have declared they are facing cases related to murder, 25 have declared cases related to attempt to murder, eight related to kidnapping, 10 related to crime against women and 15 related to hate speech, the ADR analysis shows.

Among the candidates who contested the first phase of the 17th Lok Sabha elections, 17% faced criminal charges, of which 12% faced serious criminal charges, IndiaSpend had reported on April 11, 2019.

Educational qualifications

Of 1,590 candidates, 697 (44%) have declared their educational qualification to be between 5th and 12th standard, while 756 (47%) candidates have a graduate degree or above, of which 29 candidates have a doctorate degree.

On the other hand, 35 (2.2%) candidates have declared they are just literate and 26 (1.6%) that they are illiterate.

Age profile

A third (33%) or 525 of 1,590 candidates are in the 25-40 years age group, while more than half (51%) or 805 candidates are aged between 41 and 60 years, as per the affidavits analysed by ADR. Another 246 (15%) candidates are aged between 61-80 years, while seven candidates are aged above 80 years. Six candidates have not given their age and one said they were 24 years old, younger than the qualifying age to contest Lok Sabha elections.

Gender profile

Of the 1,590 candidates, 1,470 (92.45%) are males and 120 (8%) are females, compared with 1,177 (92.9%) males and 89 (7%) females among 1,266 candidates in the first phase. As in phase 1, candidates have professed to no other gender.

(Ahmad is an intern at IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend

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MPs from Meghalaya, Delhi, Chandigarh, Gujarat and Sikkim led the country in utilising their funds, while Goa had the highest percentage (22.54%) left unutilised. Nagaland saw no project recommended or amount sanctioned in the priority health and family welfare sectors, while Jammu & Kashmir saw only Rs 1.43 lakh sanctioned and Himachal Pradesh, just Rs 5,000.

The Members of Parliament (MP) Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) enables parliamentarians to recommend developmental work in their constituencies, based on local needs. Under the scheme, each MP is allocated Rs 5 crore per year of their tenure, to suggest works to be taken up in districts in his/her constituency to the district collector, the top administrative official in each district.

Preference is given to works relating to priority sectors, such as provision of drinking water, public health, education, sanitation, roads, etc. The role of MPs is limited to recommending works. Thereafter, it is the responsibility of the district authorities to sanction, execute and complete the works within the stipulated time period, as per MPLADS guidelines. The funds are non-lapsable i.e., if any portion of an MP’s yearly fund remains unutilised at the end of the term, it is transferred to the next elected MP from the respective constituency.

Note that the formula used in the government’s MPLADS data to calculate the utilisation percentage is: expenditure incurred by the district authority divided by funds released by the government. As the expenditure incurred is out of the amount available with the district authority and includes interest and previous unspent money, the utilisation percentage can be greater than the funds released; thus giving an unrealistic higher-than-100% result in some cases.

IndiaSpend calculated the utilisation percentage by dividing the expenditure incurred by the district authority with the final amount of MPLADS funds available with the authority for spending on works recommended by an MP, which may include unlapsed MPLADS funds.

Utilisation of MPLADS funds in priority sectors
In the education sector, West Bengal (Rs 44.41 crore) saw the highest funds sanctioned by district authorities on the recommendation of MPs of the 16th Lok Sabha, followed by Punjab (Rs 35.62 crore) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 27.85 crore).

The least amount sanctioned for education works was in Nagaland, with just Rs 100 sanctioned for four works. The amount sanctioned in Mizoram was Rs 20 lakh followed by Rs 35.93 lakh in Jammu and Kashmir.

West Bengal (Rs 39.97 crore) and Punjab (Rs 9.7 crore) also lead in terms of highest funds sanctioned for health and family welfare works, followed by Gujarat (Rs 6.25 crore) and Tamil Nadu (Rs 4.64 crore), respectively.

Nagaland saw no project recommended or amount sanctioned under MPLADS in the health and family welfare sector. In Jammu & Kashmir, only Rs 1.43 lakh was sanctioned, while in Himachal Pradesh only Rs 5,000 was sanctioned.

For sanitation and public health, yet again Punjab and West Bengal lead, with Rs 23.46 crore and Rs 17 crore sanctioned, respectively, followed by Rs 9.72 crore in Telangana. Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh lagged in this priority sector too. Almost nothing was sanctioned under MPLADS for sanitation and public health in Nagaland, while Rs 12 lakh was sanctioned in Himachal Pradesh, followed by Rs 14 lakh in Uttarakhand.

In the drought-hit regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada in Maharashtra, 27% of MPLADS funds–or Rs 58.1 crore of Rs 211.68 crore–remained unspent. In the Amravati region of Vidarbha comprising Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Yavatmal and Washim districts, out of Rs 71.2 crore available Rs 57.03 crore was spent, with Rs 14.18 crore unspent.

In Marathwada region, comprising Aurangabad, Beed, Jalna, Osmanabad, Nanded, Latur, Parbhani, Hingoli districts–out of Rs 140.48 crore available, Rs 118.5 crore was spent while Rs 21.96 crore lies unspent.

MPs with highest utilisation of funds

 

The top five MPs upon whose recommendations funds were utilised the most (99.9%) by district authorities are Rama Kishore Singh (Vaishali, Bihar), Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland), Harsh Vardhan (Chandni Chowk, Delhi), Conrad Sangma (Tura, Meghalaya) and TG Venkatesh Babu (Chennai North, Tamil Nadu). Dipsinh Shankarsinh Rathod, MP for Sabarkantha, Gujarat, saw 99.8% of his MPLADS funds utilised based on his recommendations.

Rama Kishore Singh was entitled to Rs 25 crore for his full 5-year tenure, out of which Rs 22.5 crore was released. The district authority spent Rs 24.40 crore out of Rs 24.41 crore available, which included interest and previous unspent amount. The highest amount sanctioned by the district authorities for works recommended by MPs in Bihar was Rs 6.5 crore for the construction of road, railways, bridges and pathways.

Harsh Vardhan’s entitlement was Rs 25 crore, out of which Rs 10 crore was released by the government. The district authority spent Rs 14.08 crore out of Rs 14.09 crore; Rio’s district authority spent Rs 20.11 crore out of Rs 20.12 crore, Sangma’s district authority Rs 10.07 crore out of Rs 10.08 crore and Babu’s district authority spent Rs 26.80 crore out of Rs 26.84 crore available. Rathod’s district authority spent Rs 21.08 out of Rs 21.11 crore.

MPs with least utilisation of funds
Five MPs recording zero utilisation of their MPLADS funds all had truncated tenures, ranging from 1 to 2.5 years. The government released Rs 17.5 crore based on recommendations by Nana Falgunrao Patole, Lok Sabha MP for Bhandara-Gondiya from May 2014 to December 2017, but none was spent by the district authority, making the utilisation percentage zero. Other MPs who had their funds released by the government but none was spent by their respective district authorities are Sarbananda Sonowal (Rs 7.5 crore), MP from Lakhimpur, Assam from May 2014 to May 2016 and Srihari Kadiyam (Rs 5 crore), MP for Warangal in Telangana for just over a year, from May 2014 to June 2015.

Two MPs elected late in the term of the 16th Lok Sabha, Sarfaraz Alam elected as MP for Araria in March 2018 and Venkatapura Subbaiah Ugrappa, elected MP from Ballari in Karnataka in November 2018, had their Rs 2.5 crore each unutilised.

States with highest utilisation of MPLADS funds

The top five states with highest percentage of MPLADS funds utilised are Meghalaya, Delhi, Chandigarh, Gujarat and Sikkim. Here is how MP funds were spent in each of these states.

In Meghalaya, the district authorities utilised 92.17% (Rs 40.26 crore out of Rs 43.68 crore) of the MPLADS funds available. A total of 282 roads and railways projects worth Rs 7.4 crore were sanctioned. Rs 2.6 crore was sanctioned for the construction of community centres, public facility schemes, boundary walls, etc. Rs 1.47 crore was sanctioned for the sports sector and Rs 85.4 lakh for public toilets and bathrooms, drains and other works under sanitation sector. For education works, Rs 72 lakh was sanctioned and for drinking water facilities like water tanks, tubewells and other schemes, Rs 57 lakh.

The district authorities of Delhi used 91.46% (Rs 122.9 crore out of Rs 134.47 crore) of the fund available with MPs, with Rs 11.48 crore unspent.

The Chandigarh government released Rs 22.5 crore on the recommendation of MP Kirron Kher. The district authorities spent Rs 25.42 crore (91.21%) out of the Rs 27.87 crore available. Rs 17.849 lakh was sanctioned for the construction of public toilets and bathrooms in Chandigarh.

The district authorities of Gujarat used Rs 559.39 crore out of Rs 613.37 crore (91.20%) of MPLADS money available. In Gujarat, around Rs 56.71 crore were sanctioned by the district authorities for 2,743 projects under roads and rail sector. Rs 26.75 crore were sanctioned for projects under public facilities sector, Rs 8.6 crore for education sector, Rs 8.44 crore for drinking water facilities, Rs 6.25 crore for health and family welfare sector, Rs 4.91 crore for electricity sector and Rs 2.97 crore for sanitation and public health.

The district authorities of Sikkim used Rs 20.16 crore of MPLADS fund out of Rs 22.23 crore (90.69%) available. The highest amount sanctioned was Rs 720.87 lakh for construction of flood control embankments, public irrigation facilities, public ground water recharging and other schemes under irrigation sector. Under education works, Rs 623.48 lakh was sanctioned for projects, buildings and computer for government educational institutions, and other schemes. Rs 451 lakh were sanctioned for public facilities like community centres, bus stops, crematoriums and other schemes. Rs 355.41 lakh were sanctioned for roads and railways sector, Rs 277.092 for electricity facilities and Rs 242.5 lakh for sanitation and public health.

States with lowest utilisation of MPLADS fund
Goa has the highest percentage of unutilised MPLADS funds, followed by Lakshadweep, Rajasthan, Assam and Tripura. In Goa, 22.54% of MPLADS funds available with district authorities lie unutilised. Out of Rs 35.41 crore, Rs 7.98 crore are unspent. Lakshadweep, the smallest Lok Sabha constituency by number of electors, used 78.14 % of MPLADS funds available, whereas Rs 4.6 crore out of Rs 21.04 crore (21.86%) lies unspent.

In Rajasthan, 21.46% of MPLADS funds available with the district authorities are unutilised. Out of Rs 531.05 crore, Rs 113.97 crore lie unspent. Assam and Tripura have 19.81% and 18.6% of unutilised fund respectively. In Assam, Rs 61.03 crore out of Rs 308.12 crore lie unspent while in Tripura, Rs 7.61 crore out of Rs 40.92 crore lie unspent.

(Ahmad is an intern at IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend

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About a third (32%) or 401 of 1,266 candidates whose affidavits were studied have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more. Among the major parties, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) are notable for having all (25 from TDP and 17 from TRS) ‘crorepati’ candidates.

Nearly half of all candidates have declared they have a graduate degree or above, while 1.5% have declared they are just literate, and 5.2% that they are illiterate.

About a third of candidates are aged between 25 and 40 years, while more than half are between 41 and 60 years.

The first phase of polling began on April 11, 2019. ADR studied the affidavits of 1,266 of the 1,279 candidates who are contesting during this phase. Affidavits of 13 candidates were not analysed as they were not properly scanned or were incomplete.

Candidates filing nomination papers for contesting an election have to submit an affidavit (Form 26) furnishing personal details that include details of income and assets, with PAN and income tax return as proof. A candidate also has to list the details of any criminal cases he or she has been charged with. If a candidate is found to have filed a false affidavit, he or she can be imprisoned for up to six months and/or made to pay a fine.

The affidavits filed by the candidates contesting the 17th Lok Sabha elections are publicly available at the Election Commission’s website.   
 
Criminal charges
Of the 146 candidates facing serious criminal charges, 12 have declared they have been convicted in the past. Persons convicted are debarred from contesting elections for six years from the date of conviction, but only if they have been sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more.

Of the Congress’s candidates, 27% (22 of 83) face serious criminal charges, 19% (16 of 83) of the BJP’s, 13% (4 of 32) of the Bahujan Samaj Party, 40% (10 of 25) of the YSR Congress Party, 8% (2 of 25) of the TDP and 18% (3 of 17) of the TRS.

Ten have declared they are facing cases related to murder, 25 have declared cases related to attempt to murder, four related to kidnapping, 16 related to crime against women and 12 related to hate speech, the ADR analysis shows.

Among the major parties, 42% (35 of 83) candidates contesting on Indian National Congress (Congress) tickets have declared criminal cases against themselves, compared with 36% (30 of 83) candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 25% (8 of 32) candidates from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Among the members of parliament (MPs) of the 16th Lok Sabha, 55% who faced criminal charges were from the BJP, IndiaSpend had reported on March 30, 2019.

The highest proportion of candidates facing criminal charges are from YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) which is contesting from Andhra Pradesh, 52% (13 of 25) of whose candidates face criminal charges.

Among other parties based in south India, 16% (4 of 25) of the TDP’s candidates and 29% (5 of 17) of TRS’ candidates have declared criminal charges.

As many as 37 of the 91 constituencies where polling is taking place during the first phase have three or more candidates facing criminal charges. Eight candidates facing criminal cases are contesting from the Nandyal constituency of Andhra Pradesh, seven from the Nizamabad constituency of Telangana, and six each from Narsapuram constituency of Andhra Pradesh and Khammam constituency of Telangana.

Assets of Rs 1 crore or above

A third of candidates have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more, as we have said before. Among the major parties, 69 (83%) out of 83 candidates from the Congress, 65 (78%) out of 83 candidates from BJP, 15 (47%) out of 32 candidates from BSP, 22 (88%) out of 25 candidates from YSR Congress have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

The top three states with the highest number of crorepati candidates are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh: 132 (42%) candidates from Andhra Pradesh, 77 (18%) candidates from Telangana and 39 (41%) candidates from Uttar Pradesh have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

Candidates Who Are Crorepatis
While a third of all first-phase candidates have declared they owned assets worth Rs 1 crore or more during the last financial year, the three richest candidates in terms of assets are Konda Vishweshwar Reddy of the Congress from Chevella constituency of Telangana with total assets worth more than Rs 895 crore; Prasad Veera Potluri of YSR Congress Party from the Vijayawada constituency of Andhra Pradesh whose total assets are worth more than Rs 347 crore; and Kanumuru Raju from the Narasapuram constituency of Andhra Pradesh who joined YSR Congress Party in March after leaving the TDP, who has total assets worth more than Rs 325 crore.

The top three candidates with the highest declared income during the past financial year are from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, too. Jayadev Galla and Beeda Masthan Rao from TDP have income of more than Rs 40 crore and Rs 33 crore, respectively. Galla has mentioned business, agriculture, salary from parliament, income from investment and rents as his sources of income, while Rao has stated that his income is sourced from business, rentals, remuneration from a business group (BMS Group), shrimp farming and export, bank interest and pension from the state government.

Gaddam Ranjith Reddy of the TRS has an income of more than Rs 16 crore, which he said are sourced from salary, rentals, business and agriculture.

The party-wise average asset ownership is highest for the 25 candidates of YSR Congress Party at Rs 62.94 crore ($9.1 million), followed by the 25 TDP candidates with average assets worth Rs 57.77 crore ($8.3 million). The 17 candidates of the TRS have average assets of Rs 45.87 crore ($6.6 million).

For the 83 candidates each of the Congress and BJP, the average assets’ worth is Rs 21.93 crore ($3.1 million) and Rs 14.56 crore ($2.1 million), respectively.

There are 23 candidates who have declared no assets. The candidate who has declared the least assets (excluding the zero assets candidates) is Nalla Prem Kumar of Prem Janata Dal (unregistered) from the Chevella constituency of Telangana, who has declared a bank balance of Rs 500.

Rajendra Kendruka of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) from the Koraput constituency of Odisha has declared Rs 565, and Alakunta Rajanna, an independent candidate from Nizamabad constituency of Telangana, has declared Rs 1,000.

Educational qualifications
Of 1,266 candidates, 526 (42%) have declared their educational qualification to be between 5th and 12th standard, while 619 (49%) candidates have a graduate degree or above.

Five candidates fielded by the BJP have a doctorate degree, while the Congress has three such candidates.

On the other hand, 19 (1.5%) candidates have declared they are just literate and 66 (5.2%) that they are illiterate.

Age profile

About a third (32%) or 411 of 1,266 candidates are in the 25-40 years age group, while more than half (53%) or 671 candidates in the 41-60 years age group, as per the affidavits analysed by ADR.

At the same time, 172 (14%) candidates have declared their age in the group 61-80 years while two candidates are aged above 80 years

(Ahmad is an intern at IndiaSpend).

Courtesy: India Spend

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