Lok Sabha Question No. 2544 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-16
Subject: Grants for Panchayats
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2544

ANSWERED ON 16.12.2025

## GRANTS FOR PANCHAYAT

## 2544. ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that substantial portions of Panchayat grants remainunutilized in Maharashtra and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of the current district and tier-wise breakup (Gram Panchayat, PanchayatSamiti, Zilla Parishad) of tied and untied grants released by the Centre to Maharashtra under the Panchayati Raj framework during the last three years including Nandurbar, Solapur and Sangli;
- (c) the details of the percentage of unutilized funds and key reasons identified by the Ministry;and
- (d) whether the Government has adopted any measures to improve fund absorption and transparency, including  incentives  for  well-performing  Panchayats  in  Nandurbar,  Solapur  and  Sangli,  if  so,  the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

## (SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH)

(a) & (c):'Panchayat', being a 'Local Government', is a State subject and part of the State List of the  Seventh  Schedule  of  the  Constitution  of  India.  Panchayats are  set  up  and  operate  through  the respective State Panchayati Raj Acts, which may vary from State to State, subject to the provisions of the Constitution.

As reported by the State Governmenton 01-12-2025, the details of tier-wise unutilized Panchayat grants in the State of Maharashtra are as under:

| Tier of Panchayat   | Unutilized Grants   |
|---------------------|---------------------|
| District Panchayat  | 20.21%              |
| Block Panchayat     | 18.90%              |
| Gram Panchayat      | 23.39%              |

The key reasons, as reported by the State, for the unutilized funds are identified as changes in the Scope of Work, land issues, and works being cancelled by the Panchayati Raj Institutions.

(b) As  per  Operational  Guidelines  issued  by  the  Ministry  of  Finance  dated  14.07.2021  for implementation of the recommendation of the 15 th Finance Commission grants to Rural Local Bodies (RLBs),untiedand tied grants are being released by the Ministry of Finance to the States based on recommendations  of the  Ministry  of  Panchayati  Raj  &  the  Ministry  of  Jal  Shakti  (Department  of

Drinking Water and Sanitation), respectively. Thereafter, the inter-se-distribution among all the tiers of Panchayats are done by the State Government concerned on the basis of accepted recommendations of the latest State Finance Commission (SFC) and in conformity with the bands prescribed by the 15 th Finance Commission.

As  reported  by  the  State  Governmenton  01-12-2025,  the  details  of  the  current  district  and tier-wise  breakup  (Gram  Panchayat,  PanchayatSamiti,  Zilla  Parishad)  of  tied  and  untied  grants  of 15 th Finance Commission released by the Centre to Maharashtra under the Panchayati Raj framework during the last three years (2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25)are attached at Annexure-I, Annexure-II and Annexure-III respectively.

(d) To improve and ensure transparency and accountability in the utilisation of Central Finance Commission  grants  byPanchayati  Raj  Institutions  in  the  States, the Ministry  operates the eGramSwarajwebportal (https://egramswaraj.gov.in) since April 2020, which integrates all financial functions of Panchayats-from planning to payment. The progress data obtained from this system is displayed on the portal for concurrent monitoring at the State, District, and Block levels.

To further enhance transparency, the Ministry has integrated eGramSwaraj with the Public Financial  Management  System  (PFMS)  for  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs),  facilitating  real-time  digital payments to vendors and service providers. Additionally, the Audit-Online application was launched in April 2020 to enable online auditing of Panchayat accounts and their financial management. This tool  facilitates  the  transparent  utilisation  of  Central  Finance  Commission  funds  and  enhances Panchayat-level financial oversight.

Ministry  of  Panchayati  Raj  has  been  incentivising  the  best-performing  Panchayats  through National  Panchayat  Awards  under  the  Incentivization  of  Panchayats  scheme,  one  of  the  central components  of  theCentrally  Sponsored  scheme  of  revamped  Rashtriya  Gram  Swaraj  Abhiyan (RGSA). These awards have been revamped w.e.f. National  Panchayat  Award 2023 to  assess the performance of Panchayati Raj Institutions in attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through 9 identified Localization ofSustainable Development Goals (LSDG) themes aggregated from 17 SDGs namely, (i) Poverty free andenhanced livelihoods  Panchayat (ii) Healthy  Panchayat  (iii) Child friendly Panchayat (iv) Water sufficientPanchayat (v) Clean and Green Panchayat (vi) Selfsufficient  infrastructure  in  Panchayat  (vii)  SociallySecured  Panchayat  (viii)  Panchayat  with  good governance  (ix)  Women-friendly  Panchayat.  To  encourage  the  efforts  of  awardee  Panchayats, financial incentives have been provisioned, ranging from ₹50 lakh for a Gram Panchayat to ₹5 crore for a District Panchayat.The initiative seeks to promote healthy competition among Panchayats and inspire them to achieve excellence in local governance. All panchayats are eligible to apply for these awards.

*****

## Annexure-I

| Sr no.   | District      | Zilla Parishad   | Panchayat   | Panchayat      | Rs. In Lakh Total   |
|----------|---------------|------------------|-------------|----------------|---------------------|
| Sr no.   | District      | Zilla Parishad   | Samiti      | Gram Panchayat | Rs. In Lakh Total   |
| 1        | Thane         | 411.09           | 400.56      | 6050.03        | 6861.68             |
| 2        | Palghar       | 1138.29          | 1123.48     | 8944.94        | 11206.71            |
| 3        | Raigad        | --               | --          | 10604.93       | 10604.93            |
| 4        | Ratnagir      | --               | --          | 8197.07        | 8197.07             |
| 5        | Sindhudurg    | --               | --          | 4296.94        | 4296.94             |
| 6        | Nashik        | --               | --          | 20397.20       | 20397.20            |
| 7        | Dhule         | 1088.39          | 1073.72     | 8373.08        | 10535.19            |
| 8        | Nandurbar     | 1018.79          | 1005.52     | 8234.83        | 10259.14            |
| 9        | Jalgaon       | --               | --          | 16418.76       | 16418.76            |
| 10       | Ahmednagar    | --               | --          | 20781.39       | 20781.39            |
| 11       | Pune          | --               | --          | 18981.75       | 18981.75            |
| 12       | Satara        | --               | --          | 14363.76       | 14363.76            |
| 13       | Sangli        | --               | --          | 11590.61       | 11590.61            |
| 14       | Solapur       | --               | --          | 15697.76       | 15697.76            |
| 15       | Kolhapur      | --               | --          | 16024.02       | 16024.02            |
| 16       | Sambhajinagar | --               | --          | 12903.81       | 12903.81            |
| 17       | Jalna         | --               | --          | 8803.16        | 8803.16             |
| 18       | Parbhani      | --               | --          | 7299.67        | 7299.67             |
| 19       | Hingoli       | --               | --          | 5829.93        | 5829.93             |
| 20       | Beed          | --               | --          | 11678.12       | 11678.12            |
| 21       | Nanded        | --               | --          | 14028.32       | 14028.32            |
| 22       | Dharashiv     | --               | --          | 7876.54        | 7876.54             |
| 23       | Latur         | --               | --          | 10387.28       | 10387.28            |
| 24       | Buldana       | --               | --          | 11750.61       | 11750.61            |
| 25       | Akola         | 787.15           | 776.58      | 6060.87        | 7624.60             |
| 26       | Washim        | 726.31           | 716.50      | 5554.28        | 6997.09             |
| 27       | Amaravati     | --               | 215.26      | 10521.67       | 10736.93            |
| 28       | Yavatmal      | --               | --          | 12046.78       | 12046.78            |
| 29       | Wardha        | --               | --          | 5456.80        | 5456.80             |
| 30       | Nagpur        | 1224.43          | 1207.76     | 9471.45        | 11903.64            |
| 31       | Bhandara      | 713.73           | 704.40      | 5410.22        | 6828.35             |
| 32       | Gondia        | 803.82           | 793.22      | 6314.40        | 7911.44             |
| 33       | Chandrapur    | --               | --          | 8245.48        | 8245.48             |
| 34       | Gadchiroli    | --               | --          | 5145.54        | 5145.54             |
| 34       | Total         | 7912 . 00        | 8017 . 00   | 353742 . 00    | 369671 . 00         |

## Annexure-II

|   Sr no. | District      | Zilla Parishad   | Panchayat Samiti   | Gram Panchayat   | Rs. in Lakh Total   |
|----------|---------------|------------------|--------------------|------------------|---------------------|
|        1 | Thane         | --               | --                 | 5991.01          | 5991.01             |
|        2 | Palghar       | 1118.07          | 1118.26            | 8473.21          | 10709.54            |
|        3 | Raigad        | --               | --                 | 10051.37         | 10051.37            |
|        4 | Ratnagir      | --               | --                 | 8209.92          | 8209.92             |
|        5 | Sindhudurg    | --               | --                 | 4323.24          | 4323.24             |
|        6 | Nashik        | --               | --                 | 20474.53         | 20474.53            |
|        7 | Dhule         | 1068.64          | 1068.32            | 8333.42          | 10470.38            |
|        8 | Nandurbar     | 1000.78          | 1000.89            | 8219.66          | 10221.33            |
|        9 | Jalgaon       | --               | --                 | 14187.00         | 14187.00            |
|       10 | Ahmednagar    | --               | --                 | 19933.31         | 19933.31            |
|       11 | Pune          | --               | --                 | 18634.93         | 18634.93            |
|       12 | Satara        | --               | --                 | 14120.77         | 14120.77            |
|       13 | Sangli        | --               | --                 | 11387.77         | 11387.77            |
|       14 | Solapur       | --               | --                 | 15597.87         | 15597.87            |
|       15 | Kolhapur      | --               | --                 | 16048.86         | 16048.86            |
|       16 | Sambhajinagar | --               | --                 | 12932.55         | 12932.55            |
|       17 | Jalna         | --               | --                 | 8863.24          | 8863.24             |
|       18 | Parbhani      | --               | --                 | 7315.59          | 7315.59             |
|       19 | Hingoli       | --               | --                 | 5870.15          | 5870.15             |
|       20 | Beed          | --               | --                 | 11030.29         | 11030.29            |
|       21 | Nanded        | --               | --                 | 14159.90         | 14159.90            |
|       22 | Dharashiv     | --               | --                 | 7869.41          | 7869.41             |
|       23 | Latur         | --               | --                 | 10442.33         | 10442.33            |
|       24 | Buldana       | --               | --                 | 11467.07         | 11467.07            |
|       25 | Akola         | 772.88           | 772.65             | 6100.35          | 7645.88             |
|       26 | Washim        | 713.05           | 712.81             | 5587.52          | 7013.38             |
|       27 | Amaravati     | --               | 214.08             | 10485.35         | 10699.43            |
|       28 | Yavatmal      | --               | --                 | 12119.43         | 12119.43            |
|       29 | Wardha        | --               | --                 | 5444.82          | 5444.82             |
|       30 | Nagpur        | 1188.55          | 1188.21            | 9150.09          | 11526.85            |
|       31 | Bhandara      | 701.14           | 701.21             | 5436.26          | 6838.61             |
|       32 | Gondia        | 789.51           | 789.40             | 6350.18          | 7929.09             |
|       33 | Chandrapur    | --               | --                 | 8329.36          | 8329.36             |
|       34 | Gadchiroli    | --               | --                 | 5061.60          | 5061.60             |
|       34 | Total         | 7352 . 62        | 7565 . 83          | 348002 . 36      | 362920 . 81         |

N.B.: Grants were released only in respect of the eligible Rural Local Bodies (RLBs), which were  duly  elected  and  also  fulfilled  other  mandatory  conditions  as  prescribed  in  the Operational  Guidelines  for  implementation  of  recommendation  15 th Finance  Commission Grants to RLBs.

## Annexure-III

| District and tier-wise breakup of the Release of 15 th Finance Commission Grants for FY 2024-25 to RLBs in Maharashtra   | District and tier-wise breakup of the Release of 15 th Finance Commission Grants for FY 2024-25 to RLBs in Maharashtra   | District and tier-wise breakup of the Release of 15 th Finance Commission Grants for FY 2024-25 to RLBs in Maharashtra   | District and tier-wise breakup of the Release of 15 th Finance Commission Grants for FY 2024-25 to RLBs in Maharashtra   | District and tier-wise breakup of the Release of 15 th Finance Commission Grants for FY 2024-25 to RLBs in Maharashtra   | District and tier-wise breakup of the Release of 15 th Finance Commission Grants for FY 2024-25 to RLBs in Maharashtra   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sr no.                                                                                                                   | District                                                                                                                 | Zilla Parishad                                                                                                           | Panchayat Samiti                                                                                                         | Gram Panchayat                                                                                                           | Rs. in Lakh Total                                                                                                        |
| 1                                                                                                                        | Thane                                                                                                                    | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 5474.48                                                                                                                  | 5474.48                                                                                                                  |
| 2                                                                                                                        | Palghar                                                                                                                  | 1976.40                                                                                                                  | 982.55                                                                                                                   | 7456.37                                                                                                                  | 10415.32                                                                                                                 |
| 3                                                                                                                        | Raigad                                                                                                                   | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 6661.14                                                                                                                  | 6661.14                                                                                                                  |
| 4                                                                                                                        | Ratnagir                                                                                                                 | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 7930.86                                                                                                                  | 7930.86                                                                                                                  |
| 5                                                                                                                        | Sindhudurg                                                                                                               | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 3940.47                                                                                                                  | 3940.47                                                                                                                  |
| 6                                                                                                                        | Nashik                                                                                                                   | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 18421.24                                                                                                                 | 18421.24                                                                                                                 |
| 7                                                                                                                        | Dhule                                                                                                                    | 1886.67                                                                                                                  | 935.65                                                                                                                   | 6777.18                                                                                                                  | 9599.50                                                                                                                  |
| 8                                                                                                                        | Nandurbar                                                                                                                | 446.96                                                                                                                   | 900.74                                                                                                                   | 7518.84                                                                                                                  | 8866.54                                                                                                                  |
| 9                                                                                                                        | Jalgaon                                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 15210.85                                                                                                                 | 15210.85                                                                                                                 |
| 10                                                                                                                       | Ahmednagar                                                                                                               | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 17588.03                                                                                                                 | 17588.03                                                                                                                 |
| 11                                                                                                                       | Pune                                                                                                                     | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 17287.82                                                                                                                 | 17287.82                                                                                                                 |
| 12                                                                                                                       | Satara                                                                                                                   | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 11632.24                                                                                                                 | 11632.24                                                                                                                 |
| 13                                                                                                                       | Sangli                                                                                                                   | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 10090.78                                                                                                                 | 10090.78                                                                                                                 |
| 14                                                                                                                       | Solapur                                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 14347.25                                                                                                                 | 14347.25                                                                                                                 |
| 15                                                                                                                       | Kolhapur                                                                                                                 | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 15528.68                                                                                                                 | 15528.68                                                                                                                 |
| 16                                                                                                                       | Sambhajinagar                                                                                                            | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 8217.44                                                                                                                  | 8217.44                                                                                                                  |
| 17                                                                                                                       | Jalna                                                                                                                    | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 8172.80                                                                                                                  | 8172.80                                                                                                                  |
| 18                                                                                                                       | Parbhani                                                                                                                 | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 7081.78                                                                                                                  | 7081.78                                                                                                                  |
| 19                                                                                                                       | Hingoli                                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 5654.09                                                                                                                  | 5654.09                                                                                                                  |
| 20                                                                                                                       | Beed                                                                                                                     | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 9218.53                                                                                                                  | 9218.53                                                                                                                  |
| 21                                                                                                                       | Nanded                                                                                                                   | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 12555.35                                                                                                                 | 12555.35                                                                                                                 |
| 22                                                                                                                       | Dharashiv                                                                                                                | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 4924.22                                                                                                                  | 4924.22                                                                                                                  |
| 23                                                                                                                       | Latur                                                                                                                    | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 9877.40                                                                                                                  | 9877.40                                                                                                                  |
| 24                                                                                                                       | Buldana                                                                                                                  | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 9745.21                                                                                                                  | 9745.21                                                                                                                  |
| 25                                                                                                                       | Akola                                                                                                                    | 345.04                                                                                                                   | 643.84                                                                                                                   | 5196.70                                                                                                                  | 6185.58                                                                                                                  |
| 26                                                                                                                       | Washim                                                                                                                   | 318.33                                                                                                                   | 632.28                                                                                                                   | 4078.90                                                                                                                  | 5029.51                                                                                                                  |
| 27                                                                                                                       | Amaravati                                                                                                                | --                                                                                                                       | 95.98                                                                                                                    | 8164.26                                                                                                                  | 8260.24                                                                                                                  |
| 28                                                                                                                       | Yavatmal                                                                                                                 | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 10772.96                                                                                                                 | 10772.96                                                                                                                 |
| 29                                                                                                                       | Wardha                                                                                                                   | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 3652.63                                                                                                                  | 3652.63                                                                                                                  |
| 30                                                                                                                       | Nagpur                                                                                                                   | 1994.18                                                                                                                  | 846.19                                                                                                                   | 7505.95                                                                                                                  | 10346.32                                                                                                                 |
| 31                                                                                                                       | Bhandara                                                                                                                 | 313.11                                                                                                                   | 586.74                                                                                                                   | 4680.82                                                                                                                  | 5580.67                                                                                                                  |
| 32                                                                                                                       | Gondia                                                                                                                   | 892.78                                                                                                                   | 464.39                                                                                                                   | 5676.73                                                                                                                  | 7033.90                                                                                                                  |
| 33                                                                                                                       | Chandrapur                                                                                                               | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 7241.39                                                                                                                  | 7241.39                                                                                                                  |
| 34                                                                                                                       | Gadchiroli                                                                                                               | --                                                                                                                       | --                                                                                                                       | 4426.36                                                                                                                  | 442636                                                                                                                   |
|                                                                                                                          | Total                                                                                                                    | 8173 . 47                                                                                                                | 6088 . 36                                                                                                                | 302709.75                                                                                                                | 316971 . 58                                                                                                              |

N.B: Grants were released only in respect of the eligible Rural Local Bodies (RLBs), which were  duly  elected  and  also  fulfilled  other  mandatory  conditions  as  prescribed  in  the Operational  Guidelines  for  implementation  of  recommendation  15 th Finance  Commission Grants to RLBs.

***