Samprati Motghare
IIM graduate, Batch of 2014
Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD Scheme) was launched to as a mechanism for Members of Parliament (MPs) to recommend developmental works create community assets and provide facilities as per the local needs. This scheme was launched on 23rd December, 1993, and it has undergone significant enhancement till now. Starting from Rs 5 lakh in 1993-94, funding has been increased to Rs 5 crore per MP from 2011-12 onwards.
The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation acts as the nodal ministry responsible for policy formulation, release of funds and monitoring of scheme implementation. The role of MPs in this scheme is that of a recommending agent which direct local authorities to take up from scratch and complete the recommended work.
Funds for the work are completely centrally funded and its release depends on the kind of work recommended by the MP and the groundwork done on the matter by local authorities. This means any Member of Parliament’s seriousness to develop the constituency he/she represents can be gauged through analyzing the utilization of this fund.
West Bengal’s Utilization
As per the figures available on the official website of the scheme, mplads.nic.in, West Bengal got Rs 721 crore released under scheme out of which Rs 563.17 crore were spent on various developmental works. This amounts to utilization of 78.01% of the released amount. The data being analyzed belongs to the MPs of 15th Lok Sabha from the state so as to look deeper in to the local developmental work carried out by MPs and also to assess their performance on this front.
Trinamool Congress MPs fare better than the average
• Average utilization of MPLAD funds of AITC MPs comes around to 82.1% as compared to 78.01% state average.
• 15 out of the 19 AITC MPs belonging to the 15th Lok Sabha, have spent more than 79% of the funds released to their constituency under this scheme. This shows the vision of the party to work at the grass root level and make the life of the people better.
• Average expenditure by AITC MPs was Rs 16.09 crore per Member of Parliament as compared to Rs 11.58 crore by MPs from other parties.
• Some of the big spenders were Mr. Gobinda Chandra Naskar, Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Mr. Subrata Bakshi, Mr. Sheikh Nurul Islam and Mr. Dinesh Trivedi, with all the five MPs having a utilization of close to 85%.
• Majority of the funds spent through these schemes goes towards building roads and bridges, with other larger chunk going towards improving health and education facilities.
IIM graduate, Batch of 2014
Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD Scheme) was launched to as a mechanism for Members of Parliament (MPs) to recommend developmental works create community assets and provide facilities as per the local needs. This scheme was launched on 23rd December, 1993, and it has undergone significant enhancement till now. Starting from Rs 5 lakh in 1993-94, funding has been increased to Rs 5 crore per MP from 2011-12 onwards.
The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation acts as the nodal ministry responsible for policy formulation, release of funds and monitoring of scheme implementation. The role of MPs in this scheme is that of a recommending agent which direct local authorities to take up from scratch and complete the recommended work.
Funds for the work are completely centrally funded and its release depends on the kind of work recommended by the MP and the groundwork done on the matter by local authorities. This means any Member of Parliament’s seriousness to develop the constituency he/she represents can be gauged through analyzing the utilization of this fund.
West Bengal’s Utilization
As per the figures available on the official website of the scheme, mplads.nic.in, West Bengal got Rs 721 crore released under scheme out of which Rs 563.17 crore were spent on various developmental works. This amounts to utilization of 78.01% of the released amount. The data being analyzed belongs to the MPs of 15th Lok Sabha from the state so as to look deeper in to the local developmental work carried out by MPs and also to assess their performance on this front.
Trinamool Congress MPs fare better than the average
• Average utilization of MPLAD funds of AITC MPs comes around to 82.1% as compared to 78.01% state average.
• 15 out of the 19 AITC MPs belonging to the 15th Lok Sabha, have spent more than 79% of the funds released to their constituency under this scheme. This shows the vision of the party to work at the grass root level and make the life of the people better.
• Average expenditure by AITC MPs was Rs 16.09 crore per Member of Parliament as compared to Rs 11.58 crore by MPs from other parties.
• Some of the big spenders were Mr. Gobinda Chandra Naskar, Dr. Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Mr. Subrata Bakshi, Mr. Sheikh Nurul Islam and Mr. Dinesh Trivedi, with all the five MPs having a utilization of close to 85%.
• Majority of the funds spent through these schemes goes towards building roads and bridges, with other larger chunk going towards improving health and education facilities.
