A Parliamentary panel has pitched for up to three-fold hike in fund allocation for the MPLAD scheme from the current Rs 5 crore in view of inflation and higher such allocations for MLAs.
The committee has asked the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) to "make realistic assessment of funds required and strive to utilise those in view of sizable gap between budget estimates of expenditure and revised estimates".
The panel made a case for doubling or trebling the allocations under the MPLAD scheme from existing level of Rs 5 crore per MP every year.
The allocation under MPLADS have not been revised for a long time and is therefore long overdue, it stated.
"The ministry must make a realistic assessment of funds required and strive to utilize them as per approved sanctions and needs. The trend of non-utilisation should be an exception instead of being a regular feature as observed," stated the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in its report on MOSPI tabled in Parliament on Thursday.
It noted that the budget estimates (BE), revised estimates (RE) and Actuals of 2018-19 was at Rs 4,859 crore, Rs 4,928 crore and Rs 4,897 crore while that of 2019-20 stood at Rs 5,231 crore, Rs 5,231 crore and Rs 3,469 crore respectively.
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It said that the substantial difference between the Actuals of 2019 (Rs 3,464 crore) and BE of 2020-21 (Rs 5,444 crore) stands at a staggering Rs 1,979.82 crore, which suggest that MOSPI is unable to absorb the allocated funds.
It also observed that an alarming shortage of manpower exists across different offices/wings of the ministry.
The panel suggested that the ministry should make necessary changes in relevant recruitment rules etc. in order to employ desired personnel for the field operations of the ministry.
It also said that the requisite training structure many be established to train them in data collection and compilation so that efficiency and reliability of work is ensured.
The panel urged the MOSPI to review that allocation made under MPLADS and suitably revise it, factoring in the rising inflation as also the higher allocations made for MLAs (member of legislative assemblies)
It also said, "In most states, MLA funds now exceed Rs 4 crore. With 5-7 MLAs per Lok Sabha constituency, the MPLADS appears quite puny in comparison making it even more difficult for MPs to meet public demands."