Lok Sabha Question No. 2273 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-15
Subject: Streetlighting of Villages
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: Abdul Khaleque

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 2273

ANSWERED ON 15.03.2022

## STREETLIGHTING OF VILLAGES

## 2273. SHRI ABDUL KHALEQUE:

Will the Minister of Panchayati Raj be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has provided funds for streetlighting of villages, if so, the details of fund allocated during each of the last five years particularly in the State of Assam;
- (b) the number of villages of the State of Assam where streetlighting of villages have been completed and the number of villages yet to be completed, share district-wise list;
- (c) whether there is any time-frame for providing street lights in all the villages of the State, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the amount of fund provided by 15th Finance Commission and utilised by panchayat during the said period;
- (e) whether  there  is  any  monitoring  committee  in  the  State  of  Assam  to  monitor  the progress; and
- (f) whether the Members of Parliament (MPs)involved in the Monitoring committee since the fund is provided by the Government, if not, the time by which MPs are likely to be involved?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PANCHAYATI RAJ

## (SHRI KAPIL MORESHWAR PATIL)

(a) Under the Fourteenth Finance Commission (XIV FC) award for the period of 20152020, grants to the tune of Rs. 2,00,292.20 crore were allocated to Gram Panchayats (GPs) in 26  States.  The  grants  were  provided  to  GPs  for  delivering  basic  services  including  streetlighting. Under Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC), grants to the tune of Rs. 60,750  crore are allocated for the interim period FY 2020-21 and Rs.2,36,805 crore are allocated for the period FY 2021-26 to Panchayats in all the three tiers and Traditional Local Bodies and Sixth Schedule areas in 28 States. The Grants are in two parts namely Basic (Untied) Grants and Tied Grants.  The  Untied  Grants  can  be  utilised  for  felt  needs  on  29  subjects  enshrined  under Schedule XI of the Constitution including street lighting. The details of fund allocated under Central Finance Commission during each of the last five years to all States including Assam are given at Annexure .

Further,  State  Government  of  Assam  has  informed  that  no  specific  funds  for  street lighting of villages have been allocated for Panchayats, though from the fund of the XIV FC Grants, solar street lights were provided in some villages as decided by the Gram Sabha and as per the Annual Action Plan.

- (b) State Government of Assam has informed that as solar street lights were installed only in some specific locations, question of completing the villages with street lights does not arise.
- (c) No,  Sir.  The  Panchayats  incur  expenditure  on  basic  services  as  per  their  approved Panchayat Development Plan based on locally felt needs and priorities.
- (d) The amount of funds allocated and released by the Central Government under XV FC and utilized by the Panchayats in the State of Assam is as given under:

(Rs. in crore)

| FY      |   Allocation |   Release |   Utilized* |
|---------|--------------|-----------|-------------|
| 2020-21 |         1604 |      1604 |      193.06 |
| 2021-22 |         1186 |       593 |        6.64 |
| Total   |         2790 |      2197 |      199.7  |

( *Source: Information provided by State Government of Assam

)

- (e) To ensure proper utilization of the XV FC Grants, the following Committees exist in the State of Assam:
- (f) The State Government of Assam has informed that they have no such guidelines to involve Hon'ble Member of Parliaments in the monitoring of the Finance Commission Grants.

|   SL No | Name of the Committees                           |
|---------|--------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | High Level Monitoring Committee (State level)    |
|       2 | District Level Advisory Cum Monitoring Committee |
|       3 | Block Level Advisory Cum Monitoring Committee    |

***

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2273 answered on 15.03.2022

The details of fund allocated under Central Finance Commission for Rural Local Bodies during the last five years to all States including Assam .

(Rs. in crore)

| Sl. No.   | State             | Under XIV FC   | Under XIV FC   | Under XIV FC   | Under XV FC   | Under XV FC   |
|-----------|-------------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|---------------|---------------|
| Sl. No.   | State             | 2017-18        | 2018-19        | 2019-20        | 2020-21       | 2021-22       |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    | 1686.85        | 1947.32        | 2622.13        | 2625.00       | 1939.00       |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh | 159.82         | 184.49         | 248.44         | 231.00        | 170.00        |
| 3         | Assam             | 1055.80        | 1218.82        | 1641.19        | 1604.00       | 1186.00       |
| 4         | Bihar             | 4096.80        | 4729.38        | 6368.25        | 5018.00       | 3709.00       |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      | 1022.18        | 1180.02        | 1588.94        | 1454.00       | 1075.00       |
| 6         | Goa               | 26.07          | 30.1           | 40.53          | 75.00         | 55.00         |
| 7         | Gujarat           | 1683.08        | 1942.96        | 2616.26        | 3195.00       | 2362.00       |
| 8         | Haryana           | 756.98         | 873.86         | 1176.68        | 1264.00       | 935.00        |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh  | 352.76         | 407.24         | 548.36         | 429.00        | 317.00        |
| 10        | *Jammu& Kashmir   | 675.15         | 779.40         | 1049.49        | -             | -             |
| 11        | Jharkhand         | 1178.63        | 1360.62        | 1832.12        | 1689.00       | 1249.00       |
| 12        | Karnataka         | 1810.55        | 2090.1         | 2814.39        | 3217.00       | 2377.00       |
| 13        | Kerala            | 783.12         | 904.03         | 1217.3         | 1628.00       | 1203.00       |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh    | 2642.40        | 3050.41        | 4107.48        | 3984.00       | 2944.00       |
| 15        | Maharashtra       | 2930.76        | 3383.28        | 4555.70        | 5827.00       | 4307.00       |
| 16        | Manipur           | 40.16          | 46.36          | 62.43          | 177.00        | 131.00        |
| 17        | #Meghalaya        | -              | -              | -              | 182.00        | 135.00        |
| 18        | #Mizoram          | -              | -              | -              | 93.00         | 69.00         |
| 19        | #Nagaland         | -              | -              | -              | 125.00        | 92.00         |
| 20        | Odisha            | 1725.11        | 1991.48        | 2681.59        | 2258.00       | 1669.00       |
| 21        | Punjab            | 797.45         | 920.58         | 1239.58        | 1388.00       | 1026.00       |
| 22        | Rajasthan         | 2657.47        | 3067.8         | 4130.90        | 3862.00       | 2854.00       |
| 23        | Sikkim            | 28.95          | 33.41          | 44.99          | 42.00         | 31.00         |
| 24        | Tamil Nadu        | 1710.90        | 1975.07        | 2659.50        | 3607.00       | 2666.00       |
| 25        | Telangana         | 1047.75        | 1209.53        | 1628.68        | 1847.00       | 1365.00       |
| 26        | Tripura           | 65.43          | 75.53          | 101.71         | 191.00        | 141.00        |
| 27        | Uttar Pradesh     | 6973.57        | 8050.34        | 10840.04       | 9752.00       | 7208.00       |
| 28        | Uttarakhand       | 366.97         | 423.64         | 570.44         | 574.00        | 425.00        |
| 29        | West Bengal       | 2766.26        | 3193.39        | 4300.01        | 4412.00       | 3261.00       |
|           | Total             | 39040.97       | 45069.16       | 60687.13       | 60750.00      | 44901.00      |