DCB Funds: Each MP to receive Rs. 15 million in 2016 

Niroshan

By Saman Indrajith-November 21, 2015, 8:19 pm

Each MP will receive Rs 15 million each next year (2016) from the decentralized budget, Parliament was told yesterday.

State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Niroshan Perera said that the government will add another Rs. 5 million each to the Rs. 10 million decentralized budgetary allocation of MPs for 2016.

The Minister was responding to a question raised by Matara District MP Dullas Alahapperuma.

Alahapperuma wanted to know whether the government was aware that even though the Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake at the mini-budget in January this year pledged that the decentralized budgetary allocation (DCB) of Rs 5 million given to each MP would be increased to Rs. 10 million with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also confirming it to the House, MPs did not receive it for the current year until Sept. 10, 2015.

The State Minister responded in the affirmative.

Alahapperuma said that an MP was entitled to Rs. five million each and demanded to know whether they would get the enhanced allocation by the end of this year.

The Minister said: A financial allocation of Rs 0.5 million made available in 1973 to each MP was increased to Rs 2.5 million in 1979, to Rs 3.5 million in 2000 and to Rs 5 million in 2003.

As such, the annual allocation made available to MPs remained at Rs 5 million for 11 years. In 2014, under then Ministry of Economic Development, an additional allocation of Rs 10 million for development work was made available, which was confined only to the MPs of the ruling party. The new government, having take into consideration the project proposals received by the MPs, had decided to increase the DCB allocation to all MPs to Rs 10 million with effect from 2015.

Asked whether not providing the DCB to the MPs amounted to breach of their privileges, the State Minister responded in the negative and said that the project of providing the increased allocation had been planned to be implemented after the Cabinet reshuffle subsequent to the Presidential election.

However, in view of the fact that DCB allocations had to be made available to the new MPs returned at the general election, which was to be held in August 2015, it was not possible to make DCB allocations twice in the same year. Further commencement of new projects had been suspended until the election was over by the Commissioner of Elections by his letter dated 23l.07.2015.

"Therefore, it was planned to allocate provision for the new MPs returned at the General Election 2015, obtain relevant project proposals, grant approval, release funds and effect implementation.

"However, the DCB allocations would not be granted this year to prevent continuation of those projects into the ensuing year due to adequate time not being available to complete those projects this year.

"Accordingly, provision for Rs 15 million to each MP, including of the forgone allocation, would be allocated for the year 2016".