The Centre has made it clear that the state governments, with their own funds, should complete suspended or abandoned work under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has modified the guidelines of MPLADS works for the purpose. As per the modified guidelines, state governments will also have to take necessary disciplinary action against the erring officials. The district authority should ensure that the funds are utilized as sanctioned so that the duplication of allocation of funds does not take place. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in its 55th report presented to Parliament has asked the ministry concerned to modify the guidelines to make it mandatory for the state governments to complete abandoned or suspended work.
Though the guidelines stipulate the time frame for sanction and completion of work under the MPLADS, the PAC noted that there has been no provision for the completion of unfinished work. “A suitable provision to this effect should be incorporated in the guidelines so that if it becomes mandatory for the state governments to complete the abandoned or suspended projects from their own funds, they would certainly take action against district authorities who abandon work after incurring expenditure,” the PAC suggested.