As announced earlier on the floor of the Lok Sabha, the Union Cabinet at its meeting on Thursday may take a final decision to enhance the annual allocation under Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) from the current `2 crores to `5 crores. A proposal to provide more flexibility in implementing the MPLADS for better utilisation is also part of the agenda of the meeting of the Union Cabinet.
Sources revealed that the ministry of statistics and programme implementation, the nodal agency for monitoring the scheme, has moved the Cabinet note to increase the allocation for each MP as per the announcement made in the Union Budget 2011-12.
Noting that the big change the ministry was looking at making the scheme flexible, sources said, “There cannot be a uniform condition; what is applicable in tribal areas cannot be correct for hill areas. The scheme has to be as per the local needs of the states.”
The government also intends to increase the basket of projects that can be undertaken under the MPLADS.