The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today approved restoration and continuation of the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) during the remaining part of 2021-22 and up to 2025-26, co-terminus with the period of the 15th Finance Commission.
The scheme was suspended following the outbreak of Covid-19. The requirement of additional resources for the management of the pandemic necessitated the suspension of the Scheme.
The total financial implication for restoration and continuation of the MPLADS for the remaining part of the Financial Year 2021-22 and up to 2025-26 will be Rs 17417.00 crore.
The Ministry will release MPLADS fund at the rate of Rs 2 crore per Member of Parliament for the remaining period of FY 2021-22 in one instalment and at the rate of Rs 5.00 crore per annum per Member of Parliament during FY 2022-23 to FY 2025-26, in two instalments of Rs 2.5 crore each.
The MPLADS is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by the Government of India. The objective of the scheme is to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets for drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc., mainly in their constituencies.
The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per Member of Parliament (MP) constituency is Rs 5 crore, released in two instalments of Rs 2.5 crore each, subject to the fulfilment of conditions as per the MPLADS Guidelines.
To meet the burden of additional health infrastructure and adverse impacts of Covid-19, the Cabinet on 6th April last year had decided not to operate MPLADS during the FYs 2020-21 and 2021-22, and place the fund at the disposal of the Ministry of Finance for managing the pandemic.
As the country is now on the road to economic recovery and the Scheme continues to be beneficial in fulfilling aspirations of locally felt needs of the society in skill development and creation of jobs, the Government decided to restore the MPLADS.
The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation conducted a Third Party Evaluation of the MPLADS works during 2021 in 216 districts across the country. The Evaluation Report recommended the continuation of the MPLADS.
Since the inception of the Scheme, a total of 19,86,206 works and projects have been completed with the financial implication of Rs 54171.09 crore.