An MP can now sponsor construction of railway halt stations from one’s annual budget of Rs 5 crore and get one’s name etched on a steel or metal plaque.

The privilege to MPs came from the statistics and programme implementation ministry. The modified guidelines say funds from the MPLAD (MP Local Area Development) scheme can be used for constructing the halt stations "to facilitate locals for easy access to railways”.

But the railway ministry has so far not agreed to empower the MPs to decide the halts for trains in their area. The schedule of trains will be disrupted if MPs start deciding the halt stations, the worried railway ministry officials said.

The only scope left for the railways to prevent the mushrooming growth of the halt stations at every small town and village is with the MPLAD guidelines that "the implementation will be carried out as per the provisions of the railways."

The guidelines pushed by in-charge minister of state SK Jena, stresses that there should be no duplication or duplicate accounting. If railways are also contributing to establishment of any train halts, the accounts of expenditure will be maintained separately for both MPLAD scheme and railways, say the guidelines.

"A plaque (steel/metal) indicating the cost involved, contribution made from MPLADS/railways, if any, commencement, completion and inauguration and the name of the MP sponsoring the work should be permanently in place," the guidelines added.

Under the MPLAD scheme, each MP has the choice to recommend to the district collector, works to the tune of Rs 5 crore per annum to be taken up in his/her constituency.

A Rajya Sabha MP can recommend works in one or more districts in the state from where he/she has been elected, while the nominated MPs of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are allowed to select one or more districts in a state for implementation of their choice of work.

While the Prime Minister tops in the country in the highest utilisation of 90.5 percent of the MPLAD funds in Assam from where he is elected as compared to Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul Gandhi clocking 58.97 and 35.35 percent respectively, there are MPs who are not able to spend the money allotted to them.

A member of parliament can carry over the unspent money in the following years, but there are MPs who completed their terms without utilising the full amount, which is Rs 30 crore in case of the Rajya Sabha members and Rs 25 crore for the Lok Sabha member if the House lasts full term.

At a meeting convened by the ministry of statistics in February, officials noted large amounts remaining unspent by the MPs during their term and hence the district collectors were told to close accounts by March 10, 2012 and refund the balance of the unspent money in case of members of the last 14th Lok Sabha as also that of the former members of the Rajya Sabha.

The MPs insist that works ordered by them should be completed irrespective of their term. The government has taken a stand which would only lead many MPs using Rs 25 crore to recommend works towards the end of their term to influence voters. Moreover, delay in closing their accounts would give a leeway to the officials to delay submission of the final utilisation certificate (UC), the ministry officials said.

They said the ministry is developing a portal of the MPLAD scheme to keep a detailed information on release, expenditure and works undertaken on the recommendation of the MPs and show at regular intervals the work in progress.