Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) has provision for MPs to contribute funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction works in the areas affected by severe calamity. Once the heavy rain and flood situation of Kerala in August 2018 was declared by Ministry of Home Affairs as severe in nature, an appeal to all Members of Parliament was issued on 24th August 2018 by Minister of Statistics Programme Implementation, D. V. Sadananda Gowda, to contribute from their MPLADS fund for rehabilitation works in affected areas of Kerala.
As per guideline of the Scheme, an MP can contribute upto one crore from their MPLADS fund for rehabilitation works in affected areas. Till now, 100 MPs from across India have contributed an amount totally to Rs. 43.66 crore for this purpose. Rs. 29.82 crore have been contributed by 56Rajya Sabha Members and Rs. 13.84 crore by 44Lok Sabha Members. 30 MPs have contributed one crore which is the maximum that an MP can contribute. 12 MPs have contributed Rs. 50 Lakh or more and 12 MPs have contributed Rs. 25 lakh. Rest of the MPs have contributed between Rs. 1 lakh to less than Rs. 25 lakh. 6 MPs of Kerala have contributed their MPLADS funds for rehabilitation works. 14 MPs of Uttar Pradesh, 11 MPs of Maharashtra, 9MPs of Bihar, 7 MPs of Gujarat, 4 MPs each of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana,Punjaband Rajasthan, 3 MPs each of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradeshand Tamilnadu, 2 MPs each of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal; 1 MP each of Chandigarh, Dadar& Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura have contributed for the rehabilitation works.
As per new guidelines, the rehabilitation works under MPLADS can be approved by Chief Secretary, Kerala in the flood affected areas / districts. The State Nodal Department overseeing the MPLAD scheme would maintain Report on work list, amount spent, etc. A separate Bank Account has been already opened by Government of Kerala to receive this amount.
