Times of India: Rudrapur: Monday, 21th
September 2026.
Ahead of the Uttarakhand assembly polls, govt data on the utilisation of legislators’ local area development funds has thrown up an interesting picture while ₹1,664 crore was made available to MLAs between 2022-23 and June 2026, only ₹1,091.2 crore around 66% of it had been spent. And nearly ₹573 crore remains unutilised.
The figures, obtained
through the RTI Act by Kashipur-based activist Nadeem Uddin from the office of
the commissioner, rural development, show wide variations across
constituencies, districts and political parties.
The data covers the financial years 2022-23 to 2025-26 and expenditure recorded up to June 2026. It reveals that the pace of spending differs sharply between the state’s hills and plains.
MLAs from the plains Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar spent an average of ₹16.8 crore per constituency, with an overall utilisation rate of about 71.1%.
In contrast, the 34 constituencies in the hill districts of Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri, Pauri, Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh recorded average expenditure of around ₹14.7 crore per MLA, with utilisation at about 62%. Dehradun and Nainital, which have a mix of hills, plains and ‘bhabar’ areas, were assessed separately. Their 16 constituencies recorded average expenditure of ₹15.7 crore, with an overall utilisation rate of about 66.4%.
Thus, the data presents a clear geographical pattern: fund utilisation was highest in the plains, followed by mixed districts, while the hill districts lagged behind.
However, the RTI data does not establish the reasons for this difference. Difficult terrain, accessibility, administrative procedures and the nature of development projects could be among the factors.
The political picture is equally striking. Based on the present party affiliations of MLAs and the constituency-wise expenditure percentages, the average utilisation rate for Congress MLAs is around 68.4%, compared with 64.4% for BJP MLAs.
Among individual legislators, Pradeep Batra of Roorkee and Furqan Ahmed of Piran Kaliyar recorded the highest utilisation at 77%. Congress MLAs Ravi Bahadur and Qazi Nizamuddin followed at 76%.
At the other end, Tehri MLA Kishore Upadhyay’s constituency recorded utilisation of only around 30%, the lowest in the dataset. Yamkeshwar stood at 44%, while Chakrata recorded 51%.
Among cabinet ministers, Batra led with 77%, followed by Saurabh Bahuguna at 72% and Madan Kaushik 70%. Satpal Maharaj recorded 68%, Khajan Das 66% and Ganesh Joshi 65%. Subodh Uniyal and Bharat Singh Chaudhary stood at 57% each, while Dhan Singh Rawat recorded 37%.
Economist Mohit Dev Yadav said the issue goes beyond political demands for increasing the MLA fund. “In 2002, when Uttarakhand got its first elected govt, the MLA fund was only ₹75 lakh. Today, it has risen to ₹5 crore annually, meaning an MLA can receive ₹25 crore over a five-year term. Representatives from both the ruling party and the Opposition regularly demand higher allocations, citing the development needs of their constituencies. But their ability to utilise these funds effectively remains a matter of serious concern,” Yadav said.
Chartered accountant Amit Gambhir said, “For a resource-constrained state like Uttarakhand, ensuring 100% and proper utilisation of MLA funds is the moral responsibility and duty of every legislator. This responsibility is even greater in the hill regions where inadequate basic infrastructure continues to contribute to migration.” Many others echoed similar sentiments.
Ahead of the Uttarakhand assembly polls, govt data on the utilisation of legislators’ local area development funds has thrown up an interesting picture while ₹1,664 crore was made available to MLAs between 2022-23 and June 2026, only ₹1,091.2 crore around 66% of it had been spent. And nearly ₹573 crore remains unutilised.
The data covers the financial years 2022-23 to 2025-26 and expenditure recorded up to June 2026. It reveals that the pace of spending differs sharply between the state’s hills and plains.
MLAs from the plains Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar spent an average of ₹16.8 crore per constituency, with an overall utilisation rate of about 71.1%.
In contrast, the 34 constituencies in the hill districts of Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Tehri, Pauri, Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh recorded average expenditure of around ₹14.7 crore per MLA, with utilisation at about 62%. Dehradun and Nainital, which have a mix of hills, plains and ‘bhabar’ areas, were assessed separately. Their 16 constituencies recorded average expenditure of ₹15.7 crore, with an overall utilisation rate of about 66.4%.
Thus, the data presents a clear geographical pattern: fund utilisation was highest in the plains, followed by mixed districts, while the hill districts lagged behind.
However, the RTI data does not establish the reasons for this difference. Difficult terrain, accessibility, administrative procedures and the nature of development projects could be among the factors.
The political picture is equally striking. Based on the present party affiliations of MLAs and the constituency-wise expenditure percentages, the average utilisation rate for Congress MLAs is around 68.4%, compared with 64.4% for BJP MLAs.
Among individual legislators, Pradeep Batra of Roorkee and Furqan Ahmed of Piran Kaliyar recorded the highest utilisation at 77%. Congress MLAs Ravi Bahadur and Qazi Nizamuddin followed at 76%.
At the other end, Tehri MLA Kishore Upadhyay’s constituency recorded utilisation of only around 30%, the lowest in the dataset. Yamkeshwar stood at 44%, while Chakrata recorded 51%.
Among cabinet ministers, Batra led with 77%, followed by Saurabh Bahuguna at 72% and Madan Kaushik 70%. Satpal Maharaj recorded 68%, Khajan Das 66% and Ganesh Joshi 65%. Subodh Uniyal and Bharat Singh Chaudhary stood at 57% each, while Dhan Singh Rawat recorded 37%.
Economist Mohit Dev Yadav said the issue goes beyond political demands for increasing the MLA fund. “In 2002, when Uttarakhand got its first elected govt, the MLA fund was only ₹75 lakh. Today, it has risen to ₹5 crore annually, meaning an MLA can receive ₹25 crore over a five-year term. Representatives from both the ruling party and the Opposition regularly demand higher allocations, citing the development needs of their constituencies. But their ability to utilise these funds effectively remains a matter of serious concern,” Yadav said.
Chartered accountant Amit Gambhir said, “For a resource-constrained state like Uttarakhand, ensuring 100% and proper utilisation of MLA funds is the moral responsibility and duty of every legislator. This responsibility is even greater in the hill regions where inadequate basic infrastructure continues to contribute to migration.” Many others echoed similar sentiments.
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