FinMin considering hike in MPLAD funds to Rs 25 cr per annum

The Finance Ministry is considering a proposal to raise annual allocation of funds under the MPLAD scheme to Rs 25 crore from Rs 5 crore at present, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
"Deputy Speaker Lok Sabha (16th Lok Sabha) and Chairman, Lok Sabha Committee on MPLADS vide letter dated February 25, 2015 had requested for increase of annual allocation of MPLADS funds per Member of Parliament to Rs 25 crore. The matter was referred to Ministry of Finance," Statistics Minister V K Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The Lok Sabha Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD) in its sitting held on July 2, 2013 had recommended to increase the annual allocation per Member of Parliament from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore.

In a separate reply, the minister also informed that a new integrated MPLADS website has been developed to monitor critical aspects such as fund release, fund utilisation, implementation of works, etc.
This will provide single point of reference for stakeholders, including customised dashboards for Members of Parliament (MPs) and will also enable communication between MPs and District Authorities.
The nodal districts are also required to submit the MPRs (proposals) online on this website. The website is being made functional in a phased manner.

From financial year 2015-16 fund installments under MPLADS are being released by Ministry through this website. Currently 229 nodal districts are uploading information on the new website.

When the new website becomes largely functional, login IDs and passwords will be provided to MPs for making online recommendations and viewing the progress of their recommended works, the minister added.
In another reply to the House, the minister informed that on the recommendation of the National Statistical Commission (NSC), a proposal to carry out Employment and Unemployment Survey at more frequent intervals, namely, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), has been included in 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) of Statistics Ministry to measure changes in the labour market on quarterly/annual basis.
At present, widely used comprehensive data on labour market (i.E., employment and unemployment statistics) are available only from Employment and Unemployment Surveys conducted by NSSO once in five years.

The main objective of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is to measure quarterly changes of various indicators of the labour market in urban areas as well as to generate the annual estimates of different labour force indicators both in rural and urban areas. The estimates will be brought out at State/UT and all India level, the minister added.