New Delhi
The first meeting of the newly constituted Parliamentary Committee on Parliamentarian Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) will be held on January 7, 2025, in which the request to increase the fund for this item from the current Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore will be discussed. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh is the chairman of this committee. As per the scheduled agenda of the Committee on MPLADS, ‘The first meeting of the newly constituted Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) will be held on 7 January 2025 at the Parliament House Annexe to consider various issues and recommendations of the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation. The views of the representatives will be heard.
Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora had requested to increase the amount of this item from the current Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore on 29 October 2023. He also suggested that the use of MPLAD funds for poor patients suffering from rare diseases be encouraged. This suggestion of his will also be discussed by the committee.
Members of Parliament Local Area Development Division has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementation of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). Under this scheme, there is a provision for each MP to suggest to the District Collector for works worth up to Rs 5 crore per year in his constituency.
Under the scheme, Rajya Sabha members can recommend works in one or more districts of the state from where they have been elected. MPLADS was suspended from April 6, 2020, to November 9, 2021, in view of the Covid pandemic and no funds were allocated to the scheme for the financial year 2020-21.
For the remaining period of FY 2021-22, i.e. from November 10, 2021 to March 31, 2022, Rs 2 crore was allocated under the scheme for each Member of Parliament.
When the scheme was launched in 1993-94, an amount of Rs 5 lakh was allotted to each Member of Parliament, which was increased to Rs 1 crore per year in 1994-95. Subsequently, it was increased to Rs 2 crore in 1998–99 and to Rs 5 crore from the financial year 2011–12.
