New Delhi, May 20 -- The annual allocation for a legislator under the MLA Local Area Development (MLA-LAD) Fund has been slashed from Rs.15 crore to Rs.5 crore for the 2025-26 financial year. A decision to this effect was taken by the Delhi cabinet chaired by chief minister Rekha Gupta on May 2, said officials aware of the development. "In pursuance of Cabinet Decision No. 3187 dated 02.05.2025, the allocation of fund under MLA-LAD scheme has been kept to Rs.5 crore per Assembly constituency per year from 2025-26 onwards," stated a government order issued on May 9 and signed by deputy secretary Arvind Jain. "This will be an untied fund and can be spent on approved capital works as well as repairs and maintenance of assets, without a ceiling." On October 10, 2024, the then Delhi cabinet under Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had approved a 50% hike in MLA-LAD funds, increasing the annual allocation to MLAs from Rs.10 crore to Rs.15 crore, just months before the 2025 Delhi assembly polls. But the BJP secured a thumping majority in Delhi assembly winning 48 of 70 seats and reducing AAP to just 22 seats. First introduced in Delhi in 1994-95 and modelled on the MP Local Area Development Scheme, the MLA-LAD scheme allows elected representatives to recommend public works aimed at improving infrastructure in their constituencies - including roads, street lighting, drainage, and other civic amenities. The fund is routed through the urban development department as part of Delhi's annual budget. Launched in 1994-95 at Rs.1 crore per MLA, the MLA-LAD fund cap rose to Rs.4 crore in 2011-12, jumped to Rs.10 crore per constituency after a Cabinet decision on 7 August 2018, and was lifted again to Rs.15 crore on 10 October 2024, according to an official document seen by HT. The move has sparked political sparring, with BJP MLAs criticising the AAP for its handling of the scheme during its tenure. The AAP, meanwhile, accused the BJP of failing to prioritise development after coming to power. In the years leading up to the 2025 elections, the scheme had seen a patchy trajectory, according to BJP leaders. Party MLA and chief whip Abhay Verma insisted that the new allocation was actually an improvement over the AAP's early years. "In 2020-21, the AAP government didn't release any funds under the MLA-LAD scheme due to Covid. In 2021-22 and 2022-23, it gave Rs.4 crore each year to every MLA, totalling Rs.8 crore for the two years. In 2023-24, it allocated Rs.7 crore, and in 2024-25, Rs.15 crore per MLA. So over five years, the AAP government gave Rs.30 crore to each MLA," said Abhay Verma, the BJP's chief whip in the Delhi Assembly. "The BJP government is giving more than the previous government to MLAs. It's common practice for the MLA-LAD fund to increase over time. We expect that over five years, MLAs will receive more than the Rs.30 crore given by the AAP government," said Verma. "Under AAP government, the MLA-LAD funds were misused by AAP MLAs rather than actually being spent on infrastructure. The AAP misled the people on these funds from the beginning - the government never provided the promised amount to be spent in constituencies," alleged a BJP MLA who requested anonymity....