NEW DELHI, May 7: Government is looking at transferring the MPLAD scheme to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).
“…Since Ministry of Statistics does not have a particular sectoral mandate, transferring MPLADS to Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs could be considered… MOSPI would take necessary action in this regard,” as per a Committee of Secretaries (COS) report annexed by Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh to his written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.
Under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development scheme, each MP can suggest to the district collector development works up to Rs 5 crore per annum to be taken up in their constituencies.
Rajya Sabha MPs can recommend works in one or more districts in the state from where they have been elected.
The nominated MPs of both the Houses may select one or more districts from any state in the country for the implementation of their choice of work under MPLAD.
In 1993-94, when the MPLAD scheme was launched, Rs 5 lakh per MP was allotted. This rose to Rs 1 crore per MP per annum from 1994-95 and Rs 2 crore per MP per annum from 1998-99. In 2011-12, the amount was increased to Rs 5 crore. Now the government is considering a proposal to increase annual allocation under the MPLADS from Rs 5 crore a year to as much as Rs 25 crore for every MP.
The COS was constituted to review role and responsibility of programme evaluation organisation (PEO) and independent evaluation (IEO) in the erstwhile Planning Commission and held its meeting on February 3. (PTI)
The report also said that NITI Aayog would take over the function of Online Centralised Monitoring System for review of infrastructure projects costing above Rs 150 crore each from the MOSPI.
COS had recommended that PEO be renamed and restructured to handle the monitoring and evaluation mandate of NITI Aayog and could be headed by an officer of level of DG (Additional Secretary). It many be attached office of the NITI Aayog.
The committee said the IEO be discontinued and Aayog may work out the restructured organisation by rationalising and redefining posts currently available with IEO and PEO to suit the requirements keeping in mind optimal utilisation of human resources and revenue neutrality. (PTI)
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