New Delhi: Ruling out any move to scrap the
MPLAD (Members of Parliament Local Area Development) Scheme,
the government on Tuesday said the scheme has done well with a
track record of completing over 10 lakh works since inception
in 1993-94.
"The performance of the MPLAD scheme is reflected by the
high percentage of utilization of cumulative release of 91.71
per cent and completion of about 10.53 lakh works since
1993-94," Minister of State for Statistics and Programme
Implementation Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters here.
Under the MPLAD scheme, each Member of Parliament is
allocated Rs 2 crore every year to take public works of his
choice in his area.
Replying questions on corruption in the scheme, Jaiswal
admitted that the government had received some complaints but
there is no move to scrap the scheme which provides an
opportunity to representatives of people to undertake small
works of public interest.
"It is true that we have received many complaints about
corruption by and of parliamentarians. But I have conveyed
this message to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that this scheme
should not be scrapped on this basis," he said.
The minister was addressing media after chairing a review
meeting of the scheme with Secretaries of nodal departments of
the states and Union territories.
About the proposal of upward revision funds under the
scheme to about Rs 5 crore per member, he said, "That is still
with the Planning Commission. One of reason for delay in its
approval could be, pendancy of a public interest litigation in
the apex court."
"The allocation under the scheme has not been revised
since 1998-99. In view of the price rise, the value of Rs two
crore fixed about a decade ago, is just Rs 50 lakh today," he
added.
Under the MPLAD scheme, so far 12.94 lakh works were
recommended by Members of the Parliament, of which 11.54
lakh were sanctioned and 10.53 lakh were completed.
Leading performers under the scheme are Mizoram (98.55
per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (98.22 per cent) and Tamil Nadu
(96.79 per cent), while laggers are Bihar (86.31 per cent)
Chhattisgarh (86.71 per cent) and Uttranchal (87.16 per cent).
The parameter for ascertaining the performance of a
state is fund utilisation by it. The state having high
percentage of fund utilisation is better performer.
PTI
