From L to R: Wajahat Habibullah, Shailesh Gandhi, Shekhar Singh and Nikhil Dey at the public hearing


Public hearing to demand that information about local area development funds of elected representatives be put up on boards across Delhi

Public hearing to demand that information about local area development funds of elected representatives be put up on boards across Delhi A public hearing was held on the 26th of September 2010 to demand that details of local area development funds provided to elected representatives be proactively provided by the government on boards in Hindi. Every year in Delhi, about Rs. 450 crores is provided to elected representatives to spend on the development needs of their constituency. Every MP and MLA is allocated Rs. 2 crore under their respective local area development schemes and Municipal Councillors are allocated about Rs. 1 crore (varies from year to year) under the Councillor Funds. There are 7 MPs, 70 MLAs and 272 Municipal Councillors in Delhi.

Approximately 500 people from over 30 constituencies of Delhi were present at the hearing organized by Satark Nagrik Sangathan. At the hearing, people testified that most of them have no information about the existence of the local area development funds or how the funds are utilized. They also said that if these funds are utilized properly they could be extremely useful in addressing the development problems faced by people. Rekha, a resident of Jagdamba camp slum in Malviya Nagar, testified that despite repeated complaints to the MLA and Councillor highlighting the state of disrepair of the public toilet in her slum, nothing was ever done by the elected representatives who constantly cited lack of resources and funds. “They only come to ask for votes and then never meet with us to consult about our needs. We did not even know that they get funds for the development of their constituency.” Similarly, residents of Sangam Vihar, Dwarka, Munirka and Shahdara stated that they have no information about what local area development funds are spent on.

Following orders passed by the Central Information Commission on complaints filed by SNS, some information about these funds has been displayed on government websites. However, for the majority of Delhi’s population – the economically weaker sections - this is not easily accessible as they neither have easy access to the internet nor can they read English.

At the hearing, people demanded that information about the utilization of development funds allocated to elected representatives must be proactively provided under the Right to Information Act. Under Section 4 of the RTI Act this kind of information has to be provided to people by the government in such form and manner which is easily accessible to the public and in the local language. People handed over a complaint- signed by over a 1000 citizens- to the Central Information Commissioner, Mr. Shailesh Gandhi demanding that boards should be put up in each ward giving details of the projects on which MPs, MLAs and Municipal Councillors in Delhi are spending their local area development funds. This information should be written in Hindi and should be updated regularly so that it is accessible to the poor who are most dependent on the government for basic services.

After listening to peoples’ testimonies, Shailesh Gandhi, Central Information Commissioner assured people that he would take up the matter in the Information Commission and pass orders to ensure that details of development funds provided to elected representatives are put up on boards in Hindi in each ward.

Other members of the panel at the public hearing- Wajahat Habibullah - the Central Chief Information Commissioner of India, Nikhil Dey - Convener of the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information, Shekhar Singh- a noted leader of the RTI movement, Rameshwar Prasad- a MLA from Bihar and Pratap Somvanshi- a senior journalist- also supported the demand made by people and spoke about the need for transparency and public disclosure to ensure that the funds are utilized effectively. Wajahat Habibullah commented that this information is extremely relevant and should be put up in front of each elected representative’s office so that citizens can easily have access to it. Rameshwar Prasad spoke about the importance and need for providing information to people so that they can be vigilant about the development works being done in their area.

Click below to view some of the reports of the public hearing that appeared in the media.


Report in Hindustan                     Report in The Hindu

Report in Governance Now magazine