Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme-MPLAD

Part of: GS-II- Governance (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

It was announced in December 1993 under the control of the Ministry of Rural Development. Later, in October 1994, it was transferred to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Objectives:

• To enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt needs to be taken up in their Constituencies.
• Lok Sabha Members can recommend works within their constituencies and elected Members of Rajya Sabha can recommend works within the State they are elected from.
• Nominated Members of both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the country.
• To create durable assets of national priorities viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc.
• It is a Central Sector Scheme. The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per MP constituency is Rs.5 crore.

PT PICKUPS

Government Accounts

Consolidated Fund

It was constituted under Article 266 (1) of the Constitution of India.

It is made up of:

• All revenues received by the Government by way of taxes (Income Tax, Central Excise, Customs and other receipts) and all non-tax revenues.
• All loans raised by the Government by issue of Public notifications, treasury bills (internal debt) and from foreign governments and international institutions (external debt).
• All government expenditures are incurred from this fund and no amount can be withdrawn from the Fund without authorization from the Parliament.
• Each state can have its own Consolidated Fund of the state with similar provisions.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General of India audits the fund and reports to the relevant legislatures on the management.

Contingency Fund

• It was constituted under the Article 267 (1) of the Indian Constitution.
• Its corpus is Rs.500 crores.
• It is used for meeting unforeseen expenditure.
• Each state can have its own Contingency Fund of the state with similar provisions.

Public Account

• It was constituted under Article 266 (2) of the Indian Constitution.
• The transactions under this account relate to debt other than those included in the Consolidated Fund of India.
• The receipts under Public Account do not constitute normal receipts of Government hence Parliamentary authorization for payments is not required.
• Every state can have their own similar accounts.

Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme – MPLAD

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Governance

The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is an ongoing Central Sector Scheme which was launched in 1993-94. The Scheme enables the Members of Parliament to recommend works for creation of durable community assets based on locally felt needs to be taken up in their constituencies in the area of national priorities namely drinking water, education, public health, sanitation, roads etc.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has been responsible for the policy formulation, release of funds and prescribing monitoring mechanism for implementation of the Scheme.

Features

1. The MPLADS is a Plan Scheme fully funded by Government of India. The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per MP constituency is Rs. 5 crore.
2. MPs are to recommend every year, works costing at least 15 per cent of the MPLADS entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 per cent for areas inhabited by S.T. population.
3. In order to encourage trusts and societies for the betterment of tribal people, a ceiling of Rs. 75 lakh is stipulated for building assets by trusts and societies subject to conditions prescribed in the scheme guidelines.
4. Lok Sabha Members can recommend works within their Constituencies and Elected Members of Rajya Sabha can recommend works within the State of Election (with select exceptions). Nominated Members of both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the country.
5. All works to meet locally felt infrastructure and development needs, with an emphasis on creation of durable assets in the constituency are permissible under MPLADS as prescribed in the scheme guidelines. Expenditure on specified items of non durable nature are also permitted as listed in the guidelines.

Implementation

1. A Member of Parliament shall give his/ her choice of Nodal District in a prescribed format to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with copy to the State Government and to the District Magistrate of the chosen District.
2. The annual entitlement of Rs 5 crore shall be released, in two equal instalments of Rs 2.5 crore each, by Government of India directly to the District Authority of the Nodal District of the Member of Parliament concerned.
3. Each MP shall recommend eligible work on the MP’s letter head duly signed by the MP to the district authority.
4. The District Authority shall identify the Implementing Agency capable of executing the eligible work qualitatively, timely and satisfactorily. It shall be responsible for timely and effective implementation of such works. All recommended eligible works should be sanctioned within 75 days from the date of receipt of the recommendation, after completing all formalities. The District Authority shall, however, inform MPs regarding rejection, if any, within 45 days from the date of receipt of recommendations, with reasons thereof.
5. MPLAD Scheme can be converged in individual/stand-alone projects of other Central and State Government schemes provided such works of Central/State Governments Schemes are eligible under MPLADS. Funds from local bodies can similarly also be pooled with MPLADS works. Wherever such pooling is done, funds from other scheme sources should be used first and the MPLADS funds should be released later, so that MPLADS fund results in completion of the project.
6. As soon as a work under the Scheme is completed, it should be put to public use. For greater public awareness, for all works executed under MPLADS a plaque (stone/metal) carrying the inscription ‘Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme Work’ indicating the cost involved, the commencement, completion and inauguration date and the name of the MP sponsoring the project should be permanently erected.
7. One MP - One Idea : In order to foster a grass-root bottoms-up approach to innovation and development and to arrive at solutions for local problems, which are sustainable and scalable, there is a need for seeking out and campaigning for ideas that have the potential to solve challenges. Accordingly, based on the innovative ideas received from the local people regarding developmental projects, a ‘One MP – One Idea’ Competition may be held in each Lok Sabha constituency annually to select the three best innovations for cash awards and certificate of appreciation for next five best innovations.