Lok Sabha Question No. 4644 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-15
Subject: Devolution of Funds to Panchayats
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: FEROZE VARUN GANDHI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 4644 TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.12.2016

## DEVOLUTION OF FUNDS TO PANCHAYATS

## 4644. SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state:

- (a)   whether  the  Panchayats  are  unable  to  handle  the  high  amount  of  funds  allocated  by  14 th Finance Commission directly for their use;
- (b)  if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the steps being taken/proposed to be taken by the Union Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

(a) and  (b):  To  support  and  strengthen  the  Panchayats,  the  Government  is  providing  grants under  the  Fourteenth  Finance  Commission  (FFC)  award  for  the  period  2015-20,  to  the  tune  of Rs. 2, 00,292.20 crore to the Gram Panchayats (GPs) constituted under Part IX of the Constitution and to the State of Jammu and Kashmir for delivery of basic services. The grants are provided exclusive to GPs which offers them an unique opportunity to strengthen local governance.   The FFC grants are allocated and released to various States by the Ministry of Finance in accordance with their guidelines dated 8-10-2015. Allocation and releases of Basic Grant for the years 201516  and  2016-17  under  FFC  award  (period  2015-20)  is  at Annexe. So  far,  no  State  or  GP  has reported inability to handle the high amounts of funds allocated under 14th Finance Commission directly for their use.

(c)      The  Union  Government  has  been  providing  proactive  support  to  develop  convergent participatory  local  development  plans  and  institutional  support  structures  in  order  to  utilize  the funds available with Panchayats optimally, to develop budgeting, accounting and auditing manuals to  improve  the  financial  management  of  Panchayats,  and  financial  and  technical  assistance  for capacity  building  of  the  various  stakeholders  of  Panchayats  for  their  improved  functioning.  A Coordination Committee for providing guidance and support to the State Governments and Local Bodies  on  implementation  of  recommendations  of  the  FFC  at  the  Central  level  has  also  been constituted  vide  Ministry  of  Finance  guidelines  dated  8-10-2015  which  periodically  reviews utilization of  funds under the FFC award. Besides, the progress is reviewed in the meetings with the  officials  of  the  State  Governments.  To  facilitate  better  monitoring  of  release/sector-wise expenditure made by GPs from FFC grants, MoPR has also developed online system (MIS) under PlanPlus application (http://planningonline.gov.in/ffcReport.jsp).

Annexe as referred in reply to in part (a) & (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4644 to be answered on 15-12-2016.

State-wise  allocation  and  releases  of  grants  under  FFC  award  for  Panchayats  (Rural Local Bodies) for years 2015-16 and 2016-17

(as on 25-11-2016 ) (Rs. in crore)

| FFC Grants   | FFC Grants        | FFC Grants        | FFC Grants    | FFC Grants        | FFC Grants    |
|--------------|-------------------|-------------------|---------------|-------------------|---------------|
| Sl. No.      | States            | 2015-16           | 2015-16       | 2016-17           | 2016-17       |
| Sl. No.      | States            | Annual Allocation | Total Release | Annual Allocation | Total Release |
| (1)          | (2)               | (3)               | (4)           | (5)               | (6)           |
| 1            | #Andhra Pradesh   | 934.34            | 928.41        | 1463.45           | 642.77        |
| 2            | Arunachal Pradesh | 88.52             | 88.52         | 138.66            | 0             |
| 3            | Assam             | 584.8             | 292.4         | 915.98            | 0             |
| 4            | Bihar             | 2269.18           | 2269.18       | 3554.23           | 0             |
| 5            | Chhattisgarh      | 566.18            | 566.18        | 886.82            | 391.99        |
| 6            | Goa               | 14.44             | 7.22          | 22.62             | 0             |
| 7            | Gujarat           | 932.25            | 932.25        | 1460.18           | 645.43        |
| 8            | Haryana           | 419.28            | 419.28        | 656.72            | 290.29        |
| 9            | Himachal Pradesh  | 195.39            | 195.39        | 306.05            | 270.56        |
| 10           | #Jammu& Kashmir   | 373.96            | 367.72        | 585.73            | 0             |
| 11           | Jharkhand         | 652.83            | 652.83        | 1022.53           | 451.98        |
| 12           | #Karnataka        | 1002.85           | 972.36        | 1570.77           | 1368.2        |
| 13           | Kerala            | 433.76            | 433.76        | 679.4             | 0             |
| 14           | Madhya Pradesh    | 1463.61           | 1463.61       | 2292.46           | 1013.31       |
| 15           | Maharashtra       | 1623.32           | 1623.32       | 2542.61           | 1123.88       |
| 16           | Manipur           | 22.25             | 22.25         | 34.84             | 15.4          |
| 17           | Odisha            | 955.52            | 955.52        | 1496.64           | 1323.09       |
| 18           | Punjab            | 441.7             | 441.7         | 691.84            | 0             |
| 19           | Rajasthan         | 1471.95           | 1471.95       | 2305.52           | 2038.17       |
| 20           | Sikkim            | 16.03             | 16.03         | 25.11             | 11.1          |
| 21           | Tamil Nadu        | 947.65            | 947.65        | 1484.31           | 656.1         |
| 22           | Telangana         | 580.34            | 580.34        | 908.99            | 401.79        |
| 23           | Tripura           | 36.24             | 36.24         | 56.76             | 25.09         |
| 24           | #Uttar Pradesh    | 3862.6            | 3852.6        | 6050.02           | 2667.29       |
| 25           | Uttarakhand       | 203.26            | 203.26        | 318.37            | 281.45        |
| 26           | #W. Bengal        | 1532.21           | 735.43        | 2399.91           | 0             |
|              | Total             | 21624.46          | 20475.4       | 33870.52          | 13617.89      |

Note: Information has been compiled based on the release orders issued by Ministry of Finance.

#Released on pro-rata basis on the basis of information provided by the State Government.

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