Name: Podcast: In Conversation with MoSPI Secretary about MPLADS |16 August, 2024
Uploaded: 2025-02-22T14:00:53.000Z
Duration: 27 min 48 s
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Hello viewers, welcome to Sensor TV podcast, I am Tina Jha.

In this episode, we are going to talk about the MP-LAD scheme, the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, as you would be aware, is a central government scheme which enables each Member of Parliament to recommend developmental works to the tune of 5 crore rupees per year to be taken up in his or her constituency.

Basic passive voice

Now, this scheme was announced on the 23rd of December 1993 with its administration then with the Ministry of Rural Development.

But since 1994, the administration of the scheme has been vested with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which is responsible for prescribing guidelines on how the scheme would be implemented and monitored by various authorities.

The Ministry revised the guidelines in 2023, making it simpler to understand and easier to implement.

Besides, it also amended the fund flow mechanism and launched the e-Sakshi portal for implementing, monitoring and analysing the impact of the scheme effectively.

So to talk about the importance of this portal, the implementation of the new guidelines and other necessary steps to ensure that the benefits of the scheme directly flow to the people, I am delighted to welcome on this edition of podcast, Dr. Sourabh Garg, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

To begin with and to make it simpler for the viewers to understand, tell us about what is the primary objective of the MP-LADS scheme?

First of all, thank you for having me here.

The main objective of the MP-LADS, which is the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, is to ensure that development works are carried out in the constituencies of the respective MPs for the creation of durable community assets, which are based on the locally felt needs of the people.

Number one, they have to be durable community assets.

And second is that they are based on the locally felt needs of the people.

And to that extent, they seek to fulfill the requirements of the people, which perhaps is not being fulfilled by other central or state government programs.

So how is it different from the other centrally sponsored schemes?

So I would say in fact, MP-LADS is one of us, perhaps a very unique scheme in one sense that most other schemes have a restriction of the area or the sector that they operate in.

For example, a health ministry scheme would be talking of health.

They can operate in any sector, which as long as it is a locally felt need.

The second is that this scheme involves a direct involvement of the members of parliament.

The members of parliament are free to recommend works of up to 5 crore per annum in their constituency and it is directly decided by them and of course implemented by the local district administration.

And because people elect members to the Lok Sabha directly, to the Rajya Sabha it's an indirect procedure, but the Rajya Sabha members are also elected from a particular state.

So if I may ask you about how it impacts or affects or benefits the voters?

So as I mentioned that each member of parliament has funds of up to 5 crores per annum to be spent on any durable community asset in the area.

So the people benefit directly from the availability of these assets and they are to be done based on their felt needs.

So therefore if there is a certain area which requires either a road or it requires an Anganwadi building or a school building or it requires an open gym or any such activity and the local people send a message or petition the local MP that they would like to do it.

So it's a kind of a direct benefit that flows to the people by the availability of this community asset.

So let's now understand the utilization of the MP lads.

What is the procedure for the allocation?

So you said 5 crore is allocated to each MP, but tell us about the procedure and how this is allocated.

So each Lok Sabha has a very Lempi has a very clear area defined their constituencies and in their constituencies they select a nodal district which acts as a kind of a monitoring mechanism or the nodal district from where the projects they can recommend to the projects and the nodal district also helps in terms of monitoring audit and those kind of activities.

There can be more than one district in a member of Parliament's constituency.

So any one of those districts is a nodal district others are implementing districts.

The projects can be in any of the districts.

It's not limited to being only in the nodal district.

For a Rajya Sabha MP there is no particular constituency of a district their entire state is their constituency.

So they can recommend projects in the entire state and there are no such restrictions of any particular district, but they also notionally identify a district from where it's easier for them to interact etc.

So there's no restriction as far as the district is concerned, but are there restrictions on the kind of projects that they can recommend or if you could tell us more about what are the kind of projects?

Yes, as I mentioned the projects have to be a durable community asset.

These sectors are very wide because the sectors can be in education, in public health, agriculture, railways, roads, bridges, recreational facilities, sports, games.

So the area or the sectors are extremely wide and in case there's a particular sector which doesn't exist even that can be added as long as it's a durable community asset.

There's only one area where individual assets are also allowed and that is to people who are physically challenged, who have some disability.

It might be a tricycle, it might be any other such equipment which will improve their productivity that can be given.

Apart from this, one other area where they can give outside the district is in case of a natural calamity and depending on the severity of the calamity, they can either give for example 25 lakhs outside their area or in case if it's a very, very severe calamity, a national calamity, then it can even be given up to a 1 crore and then there are no area restrictions which apply.

Okay, you know the administration of MPLADS has been under MOSPI over the last 30 years, although when it began for a year or so it was under the Ministry of Rural Development.

So in 30 years or so, tell us about some of the successfully implemented projects under MPLADS.

Yeah, so I mean there have been a host of projects in every district I can say across the country, both in the rural areas and the urban areas.

Just to give an example, open gyms are something which have been set up in many places.

High mast lighting which is required in urban areas, that has been set up in many places.

Some places have constructed medical colleges and of course school buildings, Anganwadi buildings, they are a large number.

Even for example, seasonal rivers which would cut out some villages, there have been bridges constructed on top of that.

So I think the area of operations has covered the entire gamut of any sector that you can think of which is required at the village level or the panchayat level and it has been used very, very successfully.

While I was reading, I got to know that some of the changes have been made, although the guidelines are tweaked from time to time at regular intervals.

The last revision happened last year in 2023, but the fund flow procedure was also amended.

If you could help us understand what is the kind of change that has been made and keeping in mind the use of technology as well, the e-sakshi portal.

So tell us about how effective that also has been.

So I think one of the biggest changes that has happened over the last year or so is the fact that we moved away totally from a pen and paper procedure, which was the earlier norm that it would go by writing to districts, districts would send it to implementing agencies and there would be reports of the paper getting lost somewhere.

So now we have both a portal and a mobile app and any project can be recommended by the Honorable Member of Parliament on the mobile app or the portal and it goes from the portal down directly the implementing district or the nodal district can download the recommendation.

They can identify which is the implementing agency, send it to them on the portal itself and the implementing agency can upload the draft plans of the building and the sanction order is also generated on the portal.

So eliminates any kind of chances of miscommunication or the messages not going but more importantly also ensures one that there is no time lost in the messaging and number two at any stage through the dashboard the Member of Parliament or their office or the implementing districts or the implementing agencies can see what are the projects that are being implemented, what states they have reached, what is the financial progress, there is also provision to upload for example photographs and on the different milestones so that you can have a visual feel of what states the project has reached.

So in terms of you know the fact that every concerned department should be well trained, what are the necessary steps that the ministry has undertaken since the revision has happened and in terms of also facilitating effective implementation to the change that we have made?

So this has been done at various levels, one is obviously we have ensured that these guidelines changes have been sent across to all of them so that they can know what is there.

We have done training programs both in person and virtually with the districts and the state governments to inform them about these changes that have happened including for the funds flow as you mentioned which funds through the PFMS system they flow directly to whoever is when that is implementing.

So these training programs have been done in Delhi, they have been done elsewhere and as well as virtually and more importantly even for the members of parliament during the dissent session we had a kiosk outside the parliament in the parliament house as annexe so that the MPs can discuss and understand what are the systems, what are the guidelines and their offices have also been briefed.

So I think these have really helped improve the awareness about the program.

So while there are consistent efforts on part of your ministry to ensure that the procedure is as seamless and transparent as possible, do you also face challenges as far as implementing the scheme is concerned and making the stakeholders understand?

Yes of course challenges are always there in any scheme implementation, one is very often they are not fully aware about the guidelines which exist.

Very often now we have introduced a new provision in the mobile app and the portal which through which even people can directly upload their requests and the MPs can see what has been requested.

So I think one of the challenges always remains is to increase the awareness about the scheme, increase awareness about the guidelines and to ensure that the work is done on time on the ground.

Over the past few years we have also seen how the government has gone and merged several of these schemes or pooled them together for better results.

Is it possible that MP-LADS also be effectively pooled with other centrally sponsored schemes for better results?

Yes, see there is a restriction in MP-LADS that the total amount of funds available is five crores for a constituency and there could be some projects which alone require a larger amount of funds.

So therefore the provision exists that dovetailing of different funds from different schemes whether of the state or of the centre both can be done and due to which the total volume of work that is done by leveraging the MP-LADS funds increases to so much extent.

Have there been any examples, any projects where this procedure has happened wherein the MP-LADS has been pooled with any other government scheme in the past?

Oh yes, I mean there are projects whether you look at under the Khelo India program in provision of equipment etc for the Amritsarovar program which entailed deepening of water bodies across the country, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, so a number of programs and Manrega of course where that is one program where there are certain restrictions among the amount of material that can be done so they have been dovetailed with Manrega.

So these have been done across the country in different districts.

You know despite the restrictions it's been a success on the face of it to us it appears as a hugely successful one but the challenges are something that those who are implementing would understand the backstage players.

When you pool such schemes on one side are the benefits on the other side of the challenges so tell us about both in fact.

So I suppose the challenges remain in terms of ensuring that the guidelines of the different scheme can be subsumed in each other.

Fortunately the MPLADS has a lot of flexibility in its guidelines that as long as it's a durable community asset it should be possible to do it.

There are challenges of funds flow that funds which flow from different schemes need to be made available to the implementing agency at the right time.

So that of course would require a greater amount of coordination at the district level especially of the district collector or the district authorities that needs to be done.

And I think more importantly the ability to visualize and vision envision that a particular project which is facing problems of funding of implementation how to pool together different schemes and that a lot depends on the ability to think out of the box and look at funds which can be used.

Certainly so while that is something that you do there are also times we come across news that the MPLADS fund has remained underutilized or unutilized what are the or unutilized funds this is something which is given to the MPs to you know take care of their constituency and their voters.

So what are the factors that lead to this kind of situation?

So I think a lot of these factors used to be there in the past and a majority of them were related to procedural delays and process delays because of the pen and paper mechanism that was there.

With the introduction of the mobile app and the portal it has become seamless in terms of being able to recommend a project view what is the process made and ensure that it gets implemented.

And one other area which really helps is that MPLADS is a non-lapsable fund.

So in case a certain district or a certain constituency there are some funds left they get rolled over to the next year or to the next person who gets elected.

So the district as a whole or the constituency never suffers but the people benefit though there might be certain time lags but I'm hopeful that with eShakshi mobile app even these will not be there.