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More than 200 Members from both the Houses of Parliament have contributed over Rs.30 crore, for relief and rehabilitation work in the tsunami-hit areas of the country. Contributions from more members of Parliament continue to pour in. Majority of the members who have contributed so far, belong to the Upper House.
As already stated, the Government had earlier relaxed the guidelines of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme to divert the funds for rehabilitation in the tsunami affected areas following their requests. The work permissible under the Guidelines will alone be allowed for rehabilitation and the entire amount of Rs.2 crore can be contributed.
Meanwhile, a 10 Member delegation from the Rajya Sabha MPLADS Committee headed by the Deputy Chairman of the Upper House Shri K.Rehman Khan visited last week the tsunami-affected areas in Tamilnadu, Pondicherry and the Andaman and Nicobar islands and has since returned after identifying the rehabilitation works that can be taken up as per the guidelines. The Committee will soon be submitting a report to the government on the rehabilitation schemes that can be taken up in the affected areas.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is currently engaged in processing the requests of the MPs for the diversion of funds from the MPLADS account. The Nodal District Collectors are being accordingly advised to transfer the funds to the District Collectors of the affected areas. It will be the responsibility of the District Collector of the affected area, to get the work executed and keep posted the progress of the rehabilitation work, to the concerned Member of Parliament.
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