Current Affairs Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

Topic: MPLAD Scheme

Why in News?

• Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to restart the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme and make MPLAD funds available to MPs.

Background

• In April 2020, the government suspended the MPLAD Scheme so that these funds would be available for its COVID-19 management efforts.

What is the MPLAD Scheme?

• The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a programme first launched during the Narasimha Rao Government in 1993, aimed towards providing funds for developmental works recommended by individual MPs.
• The MPs were entitled to recommend works to the tune of Rs 1 crore annually between 1994-95 and 1997-98, after which the annual entitlement was enhanced to Rs 2 crore.
• The UPA government in 2011-12 raised the annual entitlement to Rs 5 crore per MP.
• Under MPLAD Scheme, MPs can recommend development programmes involving spending of Rs 5 crore every year in their respective constituencies.
• MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated ones, can do so.
• States have their version of this scheme with varying amounts per MLA.
• Delhi has the highest allocation under MLALAD; each MLA can recommend works for up to Rs 10 crore each year.
• In Punjab and Kerala, the amount is Rs 5 crore per MLA per year; in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, it is Rs 2 crore; in Uttar Pradesh, it was recently increased from Rs 2 crore to Rs 3 crore.

How does the Scheme Work?

• MPs and MLAs do not receive any money under these schemes.
• The government transfers it directly to the respective local authorities. The legislators can only recommend works in their constituencies based on a set of guidelines.
• The guidelines lay down a number of development works, including construction of railway halt stations, providing financial assistance to recognised educational bodies, cooperative societies, bar associations, installing CCTV cameras, and rainwater harvesting systems,
• The MPLADS funds can be merged with other schemes such as MGNREGA and Khelo India.

Criticism

• The criticism has been on two broad grounds.
• First, that it is inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution as it co-opts legislators into executive functioning.
• The workload on MPs created by the scheme diverted their attention from holding the government accountable and other legislative work.
• The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2000) and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, headed by Veerappa Moily (2007), recommended discontinuation of the scheme.
• In 2010, the Supreme Court held that the scheme was constitutional.
• The second criticism stems from allegations of corruption associated with allocation of works.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General has on many occasions highlighted gaps in implementation.