(a) whether the Government propose to increase the amount under Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) if not, the reasons therefor; and
(d) the time by which this amount is likely to be increased?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING, MINISTER OF STATE
IN THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION,
MINISTER OF STATE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS
AND PUBLIC GRIEVANCES IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC
GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT
CHARGE) OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DISINVESTMENT (SHRI ARUN SHOURIE)
(a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the Lok Sabha.
Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (d) of Starred
Question No. 551, to be answered on 25th April` 2001 in the Lok
Sabha.
(a) to (d) Government does not propose to increase the amount due
to each Member under the MPLAD Scheme. Main reasons
for this are the following:
(i) As the funds, under the Scheme, are non-
lapsable, there is a carry-forward liability
of Rs. 786.5 crores as on date. Additional
funds to meet this liability have to be
provided in the current year and the next
year.
(ii) Against a total release of Rs. 7097.8 crores,
under the Scheme upto the 31st March` 2001,
actual expenditure reported by the Districts
is Rs. 4649.50 crores which is about 65.5% of
the amount released. On the one hand,
Government is borrowing funds at high cost, on
the other, funds are lying idle in the
Districts.
(iii) The shortfall in utilisation has been
adversely commented upon by the Comptroller
and Auditor General (C&AG) in their Reports
laid in the Parliament on 11th June, 1998 and
on 17th April` 2001.
(iv) In addition, the C&AG has severely criticised
the utilisation of funds on grounds such as
the following:
(a) The Ministry released the MPLADS funds
without any correlation with their end
use
The Ministry releases funds based on the
cost of the works sanctioned as per the
approved criteria and does not insist
upon the utilisation certificate. The
C&AG criticised this practice.
(b) The implementing agencies did not refund
the unspent balance In 1/3rd of the
Constituencies taken in the audit sample,
the implementing agencies were found to
have retained the excess amount in cases
where the works were either cancelled or
completed at lower than estimated cost.
(c) Irregular diversion of funds to
inadmissible purposes The Audit found
that the District Heads accorded
sanctions totalling to Rs. 18.33 crores
to inadmissible works.
(d) Sanction of works for commercial and
private organisations
The District Heads sanctioned an
expenditure of Rs. 9.16 crores on 518
works belonging to commercial
organisations, trusts, clubs, societies,
private institutions which were not
permitted under the Scheme.
(e) Irregular sanction of repair and
maintenance works
The Audit found MPLADS funds spent on
repair and maintenance works which are
not permitted under the Guidelines.
(f) Purchase of stores out of the MPLADS
funds
Stock valuing Rs. 5.46 crores were
purchased out of the MPLADS funds in
violation of the Guidelines.
(g) Irregular expenditure on places of
religious worship
The Guidelines prohibited works
pertaining to places of religious
worship. The Audit has pointed out many
cases where works belonging to places of
religious worship were taken up under the
Scheme.
(h) Irregular expenditure on memorials
The MPLADS does not permit works of
construction of memorials. The Audit
found irregular expenditure of Rs. 54.55
lakhs for construction of memorial
buildings in 5 States involving 7
constituencies.
(i) Irregular sanction of loans, grants and
donations
There was irregular sanction of loans,
grants and donations totalling to Rs.
81.45 lakhs in contravention of the
provisions of the MPLAD Scheme.
(j) Suspected fraud/misappropriation of funds
The audit has reported that there were 13
cases of suspected fraud/misappropriation
of funds in 7 sample states involving Rs.
118.36 lakhs.
(k) Incomplete/abandoned works
In 31 sample constituencies of 14
States/UTs, 99 works were either
abandoned or left incomplete midway due
to dispute over title to land,
insufficient provisions of funds,
objections raised by local
people/government department.
Overall, the C&AG has concluded that the
Audit findings reveal failures: in
operationalising the MPLADS; in meeting
its stated objectives; in conforming to
the prescription of the scheme by the MPs
at the recommendation stage and by the
District Officers at the execution stage;
and, failure to effectively administer
and monitor the Scheme. The C&AG has
recommended that the Scheme has `hardly
served its main objectives` and in view
of this, the Central Government needs to
have a thorough review of the present
arrangements for the implementation of
the Scheme.