MPLADS works: the rule is a decision in 45 days; the average sanction took longer in 32 of 34 states and UTs, Tripura's 169 days and Kerala's 97

What was asked

The Lok Sabha asked the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation whether it had noticed delays in carrying out works under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) in Kerala, although the guidelines require a decision on eligible proposals within 45 days; whether it had state-wise data on the average number of days taken to issue administrative sanction; and what it was doing about the delays.

The ministry answered on 11 March 2026. Under the MPLADS Guidelines 2023, it said, the Implementing District Authority is to issue the sanction or rejection of every recommendation within 45 days of receiving it. It annexed a table of the average number of days for sanction of works, state by state, for works recommended by Members of the 18th Lok Sabha and sanctioned in 2025-26.

The limit and the averages

Of the 34 states and union territories in the table, 32 have an average longer than 45 days. Only Ladakh (22 days) and Lakshadweep (29 days) are within it. In nine, the average is more than twice the limit: Tripura (169), Karnataka (133), Assam (124), Goa (121), Maharashtra (115), Uttarakhand (109), Tamil Nadu (102), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (101) and Kerala (97).

Tripura’s average, 169 days, is the longest, 124 days beyond the limit. Kerala, the state the question was about, averages 97 days, the ninth-longest of the 34. On Kerala itself the answer adds nothing to its row: the reasons it gives for delay are the same for every state.

Those reasons, in the answer’s words, are “submission of incomplete proposals, local disputes, constraints relating to land availability or site feasibility, requirements of statutory clearances, and technical issues at the district level.” It does not say which of them applies where, or how often, and it does not say why the averages differ so much between states.

What the answer does not give

Each row is an average, and the March answer does not say how many works it is the average of, or up to what date in the year they were counted. Without the counts, the rows cannot be combined into a figure for India, and the answer does not give one.

The note to the table says the information “is based on works sanctioned” during 2025-26. The answer does not say whether recommendations that were rejected, or that were still awaiting a decision, are counted in the averages. Under the same guidelines, the ministry said in July, the days a model code of conduct is in force in a district are not counted towards the 45 days; the March answer does not say whether its averages leave those days out.

The ministry’s eSAKSHI portal, the answer says, gives states and districts real-time reports of works pending sanction beyond 45 days, works still incomplete a year after sanction, and works with no payment within three months of sanction. The answer does not give the number of works in any of the three reports, for Kerala or for any other state.

Two missing rows, and the counts four months later

The March table has 34 rows, for 34 of India’s 36 states and union territories. Puducherry and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have none, and the answer does not say why.

On 22 July 2026, answering Unstarred Question 500, the ministry gave the works recommended and sanctioned in every state and union territory during the 18th Lok Sabha, as on 20 July 2026. In Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, 58 works worth Rs 25.05 crore had been recommended and none sanctioned; the answer does not say why. In Puducherry, 21 of 64 had been sanctioned, the lowest share after it.

Across India, 72,601 of 96,305 recommended works, 75.4%, had been sanctioned by then, leaving 23,704 not sanctioned. In Kerala it was 2,586 of 4,047, 63.9%. The July table does not say how many of the works not sanctioned were rejected, how many were still awaiting a decision, or how long they had waited.

The two tables cover different periods, works sanctioned in 2025-26 against all works of this Lok Sabha to 20 July 2026, so one cannot be worked out from the other. But a short average and a low share can sit side by side: Ladakh, with the shortest average, 22 days, had sanctioned 14 of its 36 recommended works by 20 July 2026. The four lowest shares sanctioned are in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Goa and Ladakh.

The other later answers

We read the 15 later answers on MPLADS in the Lok Sabha’s index after 11 March 2026. None gives a state-wise figure for the time taken to sanction. In Starred Question 44 and Unstarred Question 1679, of 22 July 2026 and 29 July 2026, the ministry gave the same reasons for delay and said that when instances of inordinate delay are brought to its notice, the state or union territory and the district are asked to take administrative action against the officials responsible. Asked in Starred Question 44 whether any district authority or agency had been warned or sent a show-cause notice in the last five years, it gave no number. In Unstarred Question 1679 it said there is no proposal to treat works as approved when no decision is taken in time.

Got it right

The ministry has the state-wise figure the question asked for, and gave it, for the year then running. Ladakh and Lakshadweep averaged within the 45-day limit, and Andhra Pradesh (46 days), Manipur (46 days) and Punjab (48 days) were within three days of it. In July the ministry gave the count of works recommended, sanctioned, completed and in progress for every state and union territory, and in each row the works sanctioned equal those completed plus those in progress. The answer sets out the rule, the reasons for delay as the ministry sees them, and who is responsible for timely sanction: the district authorities. Its portal reports works pending sanction beyond 45 days to states and districts, and the ministry reviews the scheme with states and districts every quarter and every month.

Every state and union territory

How we did this

• Source: the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s answer to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 3010, answered on 11 March 2026, and its Annexure I; and its answers to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 500 and Starred Question 44, answered on 22 July 2026, and Unstarred Question 1679, answered on 29 July 2026.
• The 34 rows were read from the answer’s Word file and checked against its PDF. The table has no total to add up; each row was compared with the 45 days of the MPLADS Guidelines 2023, as quoted in the answer.
• Adds up: the July table has no printed total. In all 36 of its rows the number of works sanctioned equals those completed plus those in progress; in amount, 7 rows differ by Rs 0.01 crore, a rounding difference. Its Annexure headings give the answer date as 22.07.2024; the answer is of 22 July 2026. Both tables were checked row by row against the PDFs.
• We searched the Lok Sabha’s index of answers after 11 March 2026 for later answers on MPLADS and read the 15 we found; none gives state-wise sanction times.
• Download the data: mplads-sanction-days-by-state-2025-26.csv and mplads-works-by-state-2026-07-20.csv. Our method and labels are on the Data Audit method page.

Questions

Corrections

No corrections so far. If any figure here is wrong, send the correcting document to editor@oquilia.com and we will correct it and record the change on this page.