At a meeting of the standing committee on MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds of the Rajya Sabha headed by Deputy Chairman Harivansh, members of all parties unanimously asked the government to release funds for the projects sanctioned in 2018 and 2019, which were under way before the funds were suspended due the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the meeting, the government, according to sources, unequivocally said that resuming the funds before March 2022 was out of question as the ₹3,900 crore worth funds have not been budgeted.
The MPs, however, the sources said, pointed that many projects that were approved earlier and under way have also not received funds since the suspension. “We all agreed unanimously when the government brought in changes to suspend the MPLAD funds to aid the fight the pandemic. However, that does not mean the projects which were approved long before should not be completed,” one of the members of the committee said.
Data being collated
The government does not even have the statistics of the projects that have been left mid-way after the suspension. According to sources, officials from the Ministry of Statistics that handles the MPLAD funds told the committee that it was collating data in this connection.
The committee has received representations from several MPs on the issue. The MPs get around ₹ 5 crore annually under the scheme. The money is released only after the Centre receives completion certificates from districts.
“The committee also reiterated an earlier recommendation that the funds should not lapse within 18 months as is the current norm. Instead, the MPs should be given 30 months after he/she proposes a project, because many times, there are delays in getting administrative clearances,” another committee member said.
In their representations, the MPs had argued that the funds become more critical during the pandemic. With the funds tied up, they are unable to pitch in for even basic needs like PPE or masks for their constituency. For example, AAP MP Sushil Kumar Gupta wanted the government to allow MPLAD funds for purchasing smartphones as many children have not been able to access digital schools for lack of it.
