MPs allowed to recommend works up to Rs 50 lakh in U'khand

The post-devastation works in Uttarakhand can get  a bit of boost with the area likely to get a maximum of Rs 397 crore from MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds. The government today allowed members of Parliament to recommend works worth up to Rs 50 lakh each for the affected areas of Uttrakhand.

"Members of Parliament can recommend works up to a maximum of Rs 50 Lakh for the flash floods, landslides and cloudburst affected areas of Uttarakhand," a statement from the Ministry of Statistics an Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said here.

There are in total 794 members of Parliament-- 545 in the Lok Sabha and 249 in the Rajya Sabha. Each of them had over Rs 50 lakh in their MPLAD scheme as on June 18, 2013.

As many as 545 members of the Lok Sabha had total available funds (along with interest) to the tune of Rs 6,735.5 crore in the 15th Lok Sabha as on June 18, 2013, out of which Rs 2,221.13 crore was unspent. The unspent sum accounted for almost 33% of the available amount.

In the Rajya Sabha, 249 members were released funds to the tune of of  Rs 8,724.37 crore since 1993 till June 18, 2013. Of this, Rs 1,529.34 worth of work remained to be done, which constituted 17.5% of the available sum.

MoSPI minister Srikant Kumar Jena urged all the Members of Parliament to indicate the amount they wish to contribute for such works at the earliest. Jena gave consent for release of Rs 10 lakh from his MPLAD fund.

Under the MPLAD scheme every member of Parliament is allocated a grant of Rs 5 crore annually for development of his local area. MPLADS funds can be used for infrastructure like roads, parks, water, sanitation and other common facilities for the community. However, these  allocations  have to get various clearances including administrative clearance by the concerned department.

Earlier, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had also directed all party MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to give Rs 10 lakh each from their MPLAD fund for carrying out relief work in affected parts of Uttarakhand.