KOCHI: Following a TNIE report on January 22 that highlighted below-average utilisation of Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) funds by Kerala MPs, CPM’s Rajya Sabha member John Brittas has written to the state chief secretary, drawing urgent attention to what he described as “serious procedural bottlenecks” that are distorting the true picture of MPLADS utilisation.
Brittas said the issue does not stem from a lack of proposals from MPs, but from delays occurring at multiple stages. He noted that the lag visible in the dashboard figures do not reflect the level of initiative or engagement of MPs, but attributable to a combination of procedural sequencing, inter-departmental coordination requirements, monitoring discipline, technical capacity, processing timelines, staffing constraints and digital compliance processes at the implementing level.
He said substantial delays occur at the very initial stage itself, largely due to late or incomplete submission of estimates, technical details and mandatory documents by implementing agencies to the implementing district authorities (IDAs). In many cases, files are returned repeatedly for clarifications or revised estimates.
Brittas also said delays persist even after physical completion of works. Release of the final tranche of payment is often held up due to late site inspections, delays in preparation and submission of bills by implementing agencies, repeated procedural clarifications, and prolonged processing at the IDA level.
He said reports suggesting Kerala is lagging behind the national average based solely on portal data do not fully capture the extent of work execution at the field level.
Echoing similar concerns, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said he has written to Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh, highlighting the discrepancy between on-ground reality and the data visible on the eSakshi portal. While administrative sanctions are complete and funds fully committed, Tharoor noted that digital records have not been updated to reflect this. He stressed the need to clearly distinguish between fund sanction, allocation and physical project completion when assessing MPLADS performance, pointing out that execution timelines vary depending on project complexity.