Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday accepted the request of DMK leader Duraimurugan to allow legislators to spend ₹2 crore from the Member of Legislative Assembly Constituency Development Scheme (MLACDS) for their respective constituencies without any restrictions. Each legislator can now spend ₹2 crore from MLACDS without any tied component.
Of the MLACDS funds that amount to ₹3 crore per legislator, ₹1 crore was earmarked for COVID-19 expenses, and another ₹25 lakh for the tied component, i.e school infrastructure — ₹15 lakh for establishing reverse osmosis systems in schools and ₹20 lakh for anganwadis, specifically.
Mr. Duraimurugan had contended that the legislators wanted to spend their funds for the benefit of the people, especially since the Assembly elections were a few months away.
Pointing out that some MLAs had won in the bypolls following the disqualification of some legislators, the DMK’s Deputy Floor Leader also requested that the new MLAs be allowed to spend the funds, not spent by their predecessors in their constituencies. However, the Chief Minister did not respond to the demand.
