Lok Sabha Question No. 400 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-20
Subject: Tackling Crisis of Covid-19 at Panchayat Level
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: Parvesh Sahib Singh, Ramesh Bidhuri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 400 ANSWERED ON 20.07.2021

## TACKLING CRISIS OF COVID-19 AT PANCHAYAT LEVEL

## 400. SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH VERMA: SHRI RAMESH BIDHURI:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any steps to empower panchayats to tackle the crisis of Covid-19 pandemic at panchayat level and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has issued any guidelines to combat spread of Covid-19 in rural areas, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of steps taken for the improvement in the functioning of panchayats in the country; and
- (d) whether the Government has taken steps to encourage the State Governments to devolve substantial powers to Panchayati Raj institutions, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)& (b) 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  to  Panchayats  to  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 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in order to provide employment to returning migrant labourers in construction of Panchayat Bhawans and other public infrastructures.

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.

To enable the Panchayats to effectively fight the Covid pandemic, MoPR has advised the States to enable Gram Panchayats to utilize 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. as well as 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 installment of Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Basic (Untied) Grants and Tied Grants for FY 202021 were released by Ministry of Finance (MoF) based on recommendations 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.

(c)  Panchayat, being 'Local Government', is a State subject and part of State List of Seventh Schedule of Constitution  of  India.  The  implementation  of  the  provisions  of  Part  IX  of  the Constitution is reviewed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) from time to time through studies and discussions in review meetings with the States. The performance of the Panchayats depends on the extent of powers and resources devolved to them, which varies from State to State.  The  performance  of Panchayats  is  also  monitored  by  the  State  Governments.  MoPR supports States in building capacities of Panchayats for rural governance. It also helps States in developing guidelines for participatory planning by Panchayats and preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs) to bring in efficiency, transparency and accountability for achieving development objectives. Funds are also devolved to the Panchayats based on the recommendation of the Central Finance Commission in order to deliver citizen centric services. Further, with a vision to digitalize Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for empowering rural India, Ministry has developed a simplified work based accounting application- eGramSwaraj (egramswaraj.gov.in) to address various aspects of Panchayat functioning including planning, budgeting,  implementation,  accounting  and  monitoring  to  make  them  more  transparent, accountable and effective as organs of decentralized self-governing institutions.The Ministry has also launched the application of AuditOnline during April, 2020 with a view to ensure timely online availability of audited accounts of Panchayats.

(d) Article 243G of Part IX of the Constitution allows discretion to State/Union Territory (UT) to endow, to the Panchayats with powers and authority including in areas listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, to enable them to function as institutions of local self-governance to prepare plans and implement schemes for economic development and social justice. As the extent and pace of devolution, including the monitoring of functionaries, to Panchayats vary across States, implementation of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution is reviewed by the MoPR from time to time through studies and discussions in review meetings with the States. The  States  are  also  regularly  encouraged  to  devolve  substantial  powers  to  Panchayati  Raj Institutions through advocacy, capacity building and persuasion.