The Cabinet on Thursday approved increasing the annual allocation under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme to each MP from Rs 2 crore to 5 crore. The revised allocation, involving an enhancement of Rs 2,370 crore from the earlier Rs 1,580 crore annually, will come into effect from March 2011.
The scheme was launched by the government in 1993. It enables MPs to recommend works for creation of community assets to be taken up in their constituencies in the areas of national priorities, including drinking water, education, public health, sanitation and roads. At the end of March this year, overall Rs 22,490 crore have been released under the scheme since its inception. Of this, 90.9 per cent amount has been utilised.
The Cabinet also approved amending the title of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 to replace the word “workmen” with “workers”.
This is likely to make the Act “gender neutral”. Changing the title of the Act was one of the recommendations of a task force on amending labour laws concerning women and children. The Act was enacted by the government in 1979 to regulate the conditions of service of inter-state migrant workers.
A decision on the recommendations of Justice Majithia on wageboards for newspapers and news agency employees, one of the agenda items of the meeting, could not be taken on Thursday. “The issue of wage boards for journalists and non -journalists will be taken up by the Cabinet in its meeting next week,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after Thursday’s meeting.
