Lok Sabha Question No. 222 (STARRED), answered on 2016-12-01
Subject: Facilities to Panchayats
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: BALKA SUMAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *222 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.12.2016

## FACILITIES TO PANCHAYATS

## *222. SHRI SUMAN BALKA:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has identified basic amenities and facilities given to Panchayats to improve quality of life in villages, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  a  number  of  Panchayats  have  been  provided  with  Satellite  Communication (SATCOM) facilities and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether the Union Government have allocated funds to various States for creating SATCOM facilities, if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise during last two years and current year; and
- (d) whether some States were unable to utilize the funds allocated to them for the purpose and if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor and the steps being taken by the Union Government thereon?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a) to (d) A statement is laid on the table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  PARTS  (a)  to  (d)  OF  REPLY  TO  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  222  FOR  01.12.2016,  REGARDING  FACILITIES  TO PANCHAYATS

- (a) Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), with its mandate to ensure inclusive development with social justice, and efficient delivery of services, is working in partnership with the States/UTs to institutionalize decentralised and participatory local self-governments. In this regard, under the ambit of Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) award, funds are being provided to Gram Panchayats (GPs) for delivery of basic services for improving quality of life of rural people. An  amount  of  Rs  2,00,292.20  crore  has  been  awarded  for  the  five  year  period  2015-20 exclusively for the GPs for delivering basic services such as water supply, sanitation including septage management, sewerage and solid management, storm water drainage, maintenance of community assets, maintenance of roads, footpaths and street-lighting, burial and cremation grounds, etc. The grants under FFC are to be utilized through preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP) keeping in view the prioritized local felt needs.
- (b) Satellite  Communication  (SATCOM) facilities  for  Panchayats  have  been  operationalized  in States through various sources for the purpose of training and information dissemination. The State-wise details of SATCOM facilities being used by Panchayats may be seen at Annexe .
- (c) and (d) In the last two years, the States of Kerala and Assam that prepared detailed plans and estimates,  were  provided  funds  which  were  utilized  by  these  States.  In  the  current  year, Assam,  Karnataka,  Kerala,  Telangana  and  West  Bengal  have  been  allocated  funds  for development/maintenance of the existing infrastructure. In order to overcome the challenges faced by the States in establishing SATCOM facilities, MoPR has requested Indian Space Research  Organization,  National Informatics Center  and  Ministry of Electronics  and Information  Technology  and  held  meetings  with  them  to  assist  the  States  to  design  and implement cost effective and robust SATCOM networks for Panchayats.

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Annex referred to in reply to part (b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No.222 answered on 01.12.2016 regarding Facilities to Panchayats

## State-wise details of SATCOM facilities in Panchayats in States

|   S.No. | State          |   ZP |   BP |    GP |
|---------|----------------|------|------|-------|
|       1 | Andhra Pradesh |    0 |  660 |     0 |
|       2 | Chhattisgarh   |    0 |  110 |     0 |
|       3 | Gujarat        |   33 |  247 | 14017 |
|       4 | Karnataka      |   30 |  175 |     0 |
|       5 | Maharashtra    |   12 |  126 |     0 |
|       6 | Rajasthan      |   32 |  237 |     0 |
|       7 | Telangana      |    0 |  437 |     0 |
|       8 | West Bengal    |   19 |  337 |     0 |
|       9 | Kerala         |    0 |   20 |     0 |

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