NHRC notice to UP govt for poor implementation of MPLAD scheme

National Human Rights Commission today issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh Government on a report of shortcomings in implementation of MPLAD scheme in the State.
According to an NHRC statement released today, the notice in this regard was issued after the Commission took suo motu cognisance of a media report, quoting an audit report, that there were no Review Committees for the works taken up under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme in Uttar Pradesh.
"No registers or records required to be maintained for the recommended works under the Scheme were being maintained by the District authorities.

"There had been delay in completion of many projects. The Members of Parliament were not able to review the project due to paucity of time and other technical reasons. Therefore, the monitoring mechanism/tools were the biggest shortcomings in the implementation of MPLAD Scheme in the State," the statement said.
The Commission has observed that the contents of the press report, carried on March 11, if true, will amount to the State Government not being able to utilize the MPLAD Scheme funds properly resulting in violation of human rights. A notice has been issued to the Chief Secretary of the State calling upon him to submit a report within four weeks.

"Pointing out the stark realities of the work undertaken in the MPLAD Scheme, the media report said that an amount of Rs five lakh was spent for construction of five rooms in a college in Phulpur Constituency but only two rooms were built.
"An overhead tank built at Muslim Boarding Hostel at Allahabad University in 2009 at a cost of Rs 15 lakh, remained non-operational for long. It developed cracks and was leaking due to lack of maintenance," the statement said.