Release MPLAD fund of 5th year in advance: Panel
New Delhi: Amid the demand for increasing the MPLAD fund, the Parliament's Estimate Committee has suggested the government to broaden the purview of the MPLAD scheme to enable the MPs to help more institutes and recommend more works of developmental.
The Committee, which is chaired by BJP MP Girish Bhalchandra Bapat, has also recommended releasing the MPLADS fund for the 5th year in the 4th year itself to enable the present MPs to recommend/sanction projects on the requests received from the general public/societies of their respective constituencies for various developmental works.
Further, there should be a fixed timeline for the half-yearly release of installments during a financial year, the Parliamentary panel stated in its report that was tabled in Parliament on Monday.
However, the House panel has called upon the government to ensure that the unspent funds of predecessor MPs (reportedly Rs 1,723 crore) are transferred to the MPLADS account of the successor MPs in a time-bound manner so that such a huge amount does not remain idle and is put to use efficiently.
The Committee has also urged the Ministry of Statistics to frame a mechanism to ensure regular evaluation of projects every year to ensure full utilisation of allocated funds of Rs10 crore for conducting 'third party evaluation'. Setting up of a dedicated unit in the ministry has also been recommended by the panel to prioritise regular evaluation.
Observing that there is no direct supervision of works by the ministry in each state, the panel has recommended establishing a dedicated monitoring unit to have a direct look at the progress of developmental works sanctioned under the MPLADS.
The panel has also sought the intervention of the ministry in raising the ceiling of Rs 50 lakh to enable the MPs to recommend/sanction a significant amount of funds for societies/trusts as the existing provisions in the guidelines, MPs cannot recommend funds for a large number of schools being operated by societies/trusts.
The panel also advocated for expanding the purview of the MPLAD scheme and amendment of guidelines to allow MPs to recommend/sanction funds for the development/betterment of government-aided schools in the country as well.
