MPLADS: Rs 1,500 crore remains non-disbursed in FY23, shows govt data

Nearly two weeks after the launch of the Sakshi portal for digitising the fund flow architecture in the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), data provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in Parliament earlier this month shows that more than a third of the Rs 3,965 crore budgeted under MPLADS for 2022-23 (FY23) remain non-disbursed.

In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge), MoSPI, informed that until March 30, only Rs 2,387 crore had been disbursed (60 per cent). This was lower than the disbursement last fiscal year, when Rs 1,729 crore, of the budgeted Rs 2,633 crore (65 per cent), had been disbursed.

Of the 20 major states, Gujarat (35.7 per cent), Kerala (37.2 per cent), Tamil Nadu (38.9 per cent), Haryana (41.3 per cent), and Himachal Pradesh (48.6 per cent) have disbursed less than half the amount sanctioned to their parliamentarians.

With the exception of Union Territory representatives from Puducherry, Ladakh, Delhi, Daman and Jammu & Kashmir, representatives from Andaman & Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep did not obtain any funds under the scheme last year.

The minister also informed that the processing of proposals for the release of funds under the scheme is a continuous process by the district authorities and subject to the fulfilment of fund-related criteria and submission of fund-connected documents by the district authorities in line with the guidelines.

Under the MPLAD scheme, all elected and nominated members of both Houses of Parliament are provided with Rs 5 crore annually to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets in their constituencies.

Among the better-performing major states, parliamentarians from Assam have been able to get close to 81 per cent amount disbursed, followed by Uttar Pradesh (80.4 per cent), Odisha (75.2 per cent), Telangana (75 per cent), Chhattisgarh (68.1 per cent), and Maharashtra (66.1 per cent).

Of the sanctioned Rs 50 crore, Rs 43.5 crore was released to the 10 nominated members of the Upper House.

Parliamentarians will now be given the entire corpus of Rs 5 crore in a single tranche at the beginning of the fiscal year, unlike two tranches of Rs 2.5 crore released every six months.

The move is part of the ministry’s efforts to reduce inefficiency in the present-day system.

“The new guidelines enable parliamentarians to access the entire corpus of Rs 5 crore in a single tranche at the beginning of the fiscal year and also increases the scope of permissible works and reduces regulations as well. As a result, the (new) guidelines are expected to reduce the time involved in clearing proposals, which will help in the smooth flow of funds and better utilisation of the corpus,” said a senior government official.

The new guidelines empower representatives for the first time to use up to 10 per cent of the funds allocated each year on the repair and maintenance of any asset built under any government scheme, to bring greater convergence.

Earlier, the scheme was made non-operational from April 2020 through November 2021 due to the pandemic and funds to the tune of Rs 6,320 crore were placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Finance for managing the health and the adverse impacts of the pandemic. It was partially restored in November 2021. FY23 was the first year of its full operation after 2019-20.