New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Virendra Singh Mast from Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district has directed officials to use his development funds for organising bhajan-kirtans (devotional songs) at temples.In a directive to district officials on Sunday, December 11, the politician said his Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD) fund can be used if there is a problem in organising “bhajan-kirtans” and arranging musical instruments for the temples.Under the MPLAD scheme, MPs get Rs 5 crore every year. They can use the fund for their choice of work in one or more districts in the state from where they have been elected.Usually, government funds should be used for building durable assets, such as roads, schools and health clinics, for the community. However, over the last few years, India has been witnessing a culture focussed more on religion than development.For instance, Ayodhya’s Ram temple is built at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore. On the other hand, India has the lowest number of hospital beds per 1,000 people, at just 0.5 – even lower than Bangladesh. Also read: Charting the Historical and Developmental Trajectory of Uttar PradeshMast, who is a four-term Lok Sabha MP, said he took the decision to generate “spiritual awakening”.He instructed that all “small and large temples” located in the district’s municipal council area should be surveyed, and arrangements be made for bhajan-kirtans and procuring musical instruments, the district information department told news agency PTI.“In the current scenario, traditional values are disappearing. So bhajans and kirtans, and the use of musical instruments for them, will boost cultural and religious activities,” he told PTI. He added this will generate an adhyatmik sanchetna, or spiritual awakening.Municipal executive officer Satya Prakash Singh told Hindustan that the survey of temples will be started soon by the team of municipal workers.District Magistrate Saumya Aggarwal told the Hindi daily that the initiative is being taken to develop Ballia as a tourism hub. She added that a detailed project report has been sent to the government for the renovation of five ancient temples.(With inputs from PTI)