Amendment in Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) Rules
Recently, the Finance Ministry has amended the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) rules.
The interest to be credited on the MPLADS fund will be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India as per the amendment made by the Finance Ministry.
Earlier, the interest earned on this fund was credited to the MPLADS account. It could have been used for development projects.
The proposed amendment is aimed at ensuring timely allocation and efficient utilization of funds.
Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme
- MPLADS was started in the year
- It empowers the Parliamentarians to recommend undertaking development works of capital nature based on the needs felt at the local level.
- It mainly emphasizes on the creation of a fixed asset.
- Under this, the fund is released in two installments of Rs 5 crore to each MP at the rate of Rs 5 crore per annum.
- Every year the MP has to recommend works from this fund in the following ratio:
- At least 15% of the MPLADS fund for areas with Scheduled Caste (SC) population, and
- 5 per cent of MPLADS funds for areas having Scheduled Tribe (ST) population.
- Funds under MPLADS do not lapse i.e. the fund remains the same even if they are not utilized.
- The District Authority is responsible for the overall coordination and supervision of the works under this scheme at the district level. The district authority has to inspect at least 10% of the works under implementation every year.
- The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MOSPI) is responsible for policy formulation, fund release and laying down the monitoring mechanism for the implementation of the scheme.
Source – The Hindu
