Mumbai, Mar 26 (IANS): During their tenure between 2014-2019, Maharashtras 48 Lok Sabha MPs who were entitled to a total Rs 1,200 crore under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, were sanctioned only Rs 722.50 crore by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, according to latest official data.

However, an unspent amount of Rs 827.55 crore, already available with the district authorities in the state, saw the MPs recommending development works worth Rs 1,343.43 crore in the past five years.

Against the recommendations for various projects made by the MPs in their constituencies, the district authorities sanctioned only Rs 917.13 crore and the actual amount spent was Rs 642.43 crore, leaving a balance of Rs 185.04 crore.

This shows that an average of 83.16 per cent of the amounts released to the MPs was spent on development works in the state.

When compared to the entitlement of Rs 1,200 crore by the 48 state MPs, the final amount spent was barely half, or Rs 642.43 crore during the five-year tenure, indicating a huge amount has gone unutilized.

In terms of percentage of spending over actual amounts released, the MPs who spent maximum funds under MPLAD are: Gajanan Kirtikar (Mumbai North-West) 133.43 per cent, Rahul Shewale (Mumbai South-Central) 117.69 per cent, Rajeev Satav (Hingoli) 117.58 per cent, Poonam Mahajan (Mumbai North-Central) 104.29 per cent, Rajan Vichare (Thane) 101.08 per cent and Hemant Godse (Nashik) 100.98 per cent.