Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) South Sudan, a year-old African nation, is seeking India’s help in creating its parliamentary systems and a delegation is here to study the Indian parliament’s constituency development fund scheme for replicating it back home.

The delegation, headed by South Sudan MP Beatrice Aber Samson, the chairperson of the constituency development fund committee, met with the Indian Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) committee head and DMK MP A.K.S. Vijayan here to share their views on the subject.

The South Sudan delegation was informed that the MPLADS, impleted in India since 1993, envisages an annual allocation of Rs.50 million ($1.1 million) per MP and is aimed at creating durable assets to fulfill locally felt needs of the people.

Till June 20, 2012, the government has released $4.595 billion for MPLADS, of which $4.13 billion has been utilised in the constitutencies.

“The fund utilization is 89.87 percent, which shows that the scheme has been well received in this country,” Vijayan told the South Sudan delegation.

The Indian scheme is administered by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation.

The delegation was also informed that the parliamentary committee on MPLADS monitors and reviews the performance and problems in implementation of the scheme for in-depth examination and has so far presented 23 reports to parliament.

That apart, action taken replies on the recommendations made by the committee are furnished by the government and these are presented to the parliament by the committee.

Samson informed the Indian MPs that the South Sudan parliament’s committee on constituency development fund was one of the 18 standing committees that are functional and it is mandated to implement the scheme, initiate policy frameworks and legislative matters, apart from monitoring the fund utilisation.