Lok Sabha Question No. 443 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-20
Subject: Creation of Village Level Isolation Centres
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 443

ANSWERED ON 20.07.2021

## CREATION OF VILLAGE LEVEL ISOLATION CENTRES

## 443. SHRI SHRINIWAS PATIL:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any steps to combat pandemic situation with the help of  local  Panchayati  Raj  bodies  like  Gram-Panchayat,  Panchayat  Samiti  and  Zilla Parishad, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether any additional financial support is proposed for the creation of village level isolation centers with necessary infrastructure and facilities; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRI KAPIL MORESHWAR PATIL)

(a)     Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has been providing technical and advisory support to the Panchayats towards taking various steps to combat Covid pandemic situation. The States have been advised to enable Panchayats/ Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) to facilitate sanitation and social  distancing  in  the  rural  areas.  It  has  been  advised  for  Panchayats  take  up  effective communication strategy for spreading awareness involving display boards, dissemination on Covid appropriate behavior, mass customized communication SMS/whatsapp messages and adherence to appropriate behaviour at the worksites. During the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan (GKRA)  launched  by  the  Government  from  20  June,  2020  to  22  October,  2020,  the implementing  states  were  advised  to  utilize  the  Central  Finance  Commission  Grants  in convergence with MGNREGS in order to provide employment to returning migrant labourers in construction of Panchayat Bhawans and other public infrastructure.

Ministry  of  Health  and  Family  Welfare  (MoHFW)  has  issued  a  detailed  Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) dated 16-5-2021 on 'Covid 19 Containment and Management in peri-urban,  rural  and  tribal  areas'  which  outlines  the  containment  and  clinical  management practices with respect to Covid - 19 management, The SOP has advocated a multi-pronged approach led by  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs) and engaging other stakeholders for coordinating community action and awareness creation at the village level. MoPR has accordingly advised the states to empower RLBs to implement various instructions contained in the SOP.  In order to  monitor  the  various  key  performance  indicators  on  real  time  basis,  MoPR  has  recently launched an online dashboard capturing the key indicators on Covid Preparedness and Covid Response in rural areas at different levels of Panchayats.

(b) & (c) To enable the Panchayats to effectively fight the Covid pandemic, MoPR has advised the States to enable Gram Panchayats to utilise the Fourteenth Finance Commission (XIV FC) unspent balance grants and Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Basic (Untied) grants for the  purchase  of  masks,  Personal  Protective  Equipment  (PPE)  kits,  sanitizers,  oximeters, infrared  thermometers,  oxygen  cylinders/concentrators  etc,  preparation  of  isolation  centre/ Covid Care Centre, creation of additional beds in the Covid Care Centre etc. The expenditure involving  larger  outlays  like  group  insurance  premiums,  vaccination  costs  for  the  village population, etc were advised to be met from the Finance Commission Grants with the District/ Block Panchayats.

In order to provide the necessary resources to the Panchayats, the first instalment of Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Basic (Untied) Grants and Tied Grants for FY 202021 were released by Ministry of Finance (MoF) based on recommendation of MoPR, without any pre-conditions to the RLBs. Further, in view of the sudden rise in the Covid pandemic, the first instalment of XV FC Basic (Untied) Grants of FY 2021-22 to 25 States were also released in advance in the month of May, 2021, as a special case, so that these funds could be utilized by  the  Panchayats  for  various  prevention  and  mitigation  measures  to  combat  the  Covid pandemic.

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