Lok Sabha Question No. 1185 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-11
Subject: Development Project in Gram Panchayat
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: Shri Arun Bharti

## GOVERNMENTOF INDIA MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1185 ANSWERED ON 11.02.2025

## DEVELOPMENTPROJECTIN GRAM PANCHAYAT

## 1185. SHRI ARUN BHARTI:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Ministry of Panchayati Raj maintains data on the proportion of Untied and Tied Grants allocated for specific development projects in Gram Panchayats in Bihar and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether there have been any allocation of Tied Grants for providing basic services and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the usage patterns of Untied Grants for location-specific needs under the Eleventh Schedule are being systematically monitored and reported at the State level;

(d) whether the release of XV FC Grants has led to measurable improvements in maintaining ODF status and water management infrastructure in rural areas of Bihar; and

(e) whether the grants enhanced transparency and accountability mechanisms in Panchayati Raj Institutions to ensure efficient fund utilization?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PANCHAYATI RAJ

## (PROF. S.P. SINGH BAGHEL)

(a) Under Fifteenth Finance Commissionuntied and tied Grants in the ratio of 40:60 are provided to all States including Bihar. Further, different tiers of panchayats in the State of Bihar viz. Gram Panchayat, Block Panchayat and District Panchayat receive the grants in the proportion of 70:20:10 respectively.

(b) Tied Grants (under the Fifteenth Finance Commission) have been provided to the State and the same can be used for drinking water, rainwater harvesting, water recycling, sanitation and maintenance of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. The Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV-FC) had recommended a total of Rs. 2,36,805 crore for duly constituted Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) in 28 States for the period 2021-26 including for those areas which are not required to have Panchayats (Fifth and Sixth Schedule areas and Excluded Areas). Out of the total grant

earmarked for Panchayati Raj Institutions, 60 percent (Rs. 1,42,083 crore) is earmarked for drinking water supply, rainwater harvesting and sanitation (tied grants), while 40 percent (Rs. 71,042 crore) is untied and is to be utilized at the discretion of the Panchayati Raj institutions for improving basic services.

(c) To facilitate States and Panchayati Raj Institutions effectively monitor and evaluate the use of Panchayat funds, including Central Finance Commission grants, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj launched the eGramSwaraj application. This application enables monitoring of various aspects of Panchayat functioning, such as planning, budgeting, accounting and audit.

States can leverage the eGramSwaraj application to systematically monitor the utilization of Central Finance Commission grants including Untied & Tied Grants. The Planning module allows states to track how PRIs incorporate identified needs into their development plans, ensuring alignment with budget allocations. Subsequently, the Progress Reporting module facilitates the monitoring of physical and financial progress related to activities funded by Untied Grants, while the Accounting module enables detailed tracking of financial transactions and expenditure patterns. By utilizing these functionalities, states can gain comprehensive insights into how Untied Grants are being utilized to address specific local requirements, promoting more effective and transparent resource allocation.

(d) XV-FC allocated Rs. 11,838.40 crore to Bihar as tied grants for RLBs, of which Rs. 10521.10 crore has been released to the State Govt. 50% of this amount, is to be utilized for sanitation activities and another 50% is to be used for water activities. The expenditure and physical progress under XV-FC tied grants are reported on the e-GramSwaraj portal of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. As per the data reported by the RLBs in e-GramSwaraj, Rs. 4114.27 crore out of the total tied grants released to Bihar has been utilized for sanitation activities and Rs. 1321.12 has been utilized for water activities. The sanitation assets reported by Bihar on SBM(G) IMIS (Through e-GramSwaraj portal) are in Annexure.

(e) XV FC has emphasized enhanced transparency and accountability mechanisms in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to ensure efficient fund utilization by imposing mandatory eligibility conditions viz., the Panchayat must be duly constituted (elected), onboarding on eGramSwaraj Portal, mandatory closing of annual account and audit thereof to become eligible for receiving grants under XV-FC.

The eGramSwaraj portal has also been integrated with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) to facilitate the Panchayats in making real-time online payments to vendors and service providers thereby streamlining financial operations and bringing transparency to their functioning.

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## Annexure

## The sanitation assets reported by Bihar on e-GramSwaraj

|   Sr. No. | District Name      |   No. SWM Assets |   of No. GWM Assets |   of No. of CSC's |   Household level SLWM Assets |   Total No. of Assets |   Total No. of Village |
|-----------|--------------------|------------------|---------------------|-------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------|------------------------|
|         1 | Araria             |               25 |                 131 |               196 |                             0 |                   360 |                    198 |
|         2 | Arwal              |                0 |                  69 |                95 |                             0 |                   165 |                     79 |
|         3 | Aurangabad         |               27 |                 500 |                88 |                             6 |                   633 |                    379 |
|         4 | Banka              |                9 |                 136 |                34 |                             2 |                   183 |                    137 |
|         5 | Begusarai          |               30 |                 159 |                93 |                             7 |                   405 |                    148 |
|         6 | Bhagalpur          |                5 |                  19 |                23 |                             1 |                    59 |                     42 |
|         7 | Bhojpur            |                4 |                 167 |                36 |                             0 |                   215 |                    139 |
|         8 | Buxar              |                1 |                  26 |               142 |                             0 |                   169 |                     92 |
|         9 | Darbhanga          |                2 |                  59 |                16 |                             0 |                    80 |                     64 |
|        10 | Gaya               |                6 |                 380 |                82 |                             0 |                   487 |                    316 |
|        11 | Gopalganj          |               17 |                  60 |                23 |                             3 |                   117 |                     98 |
|        12 | Jamui              |               10 |                  73 |                43 |                            10 |                   147 |                     96 |
|        13 | Jehanabad          |                3 |                  67 |                 2 |                             0 |                    72 |                     29 |
|        14 | Kaimur (Bhabua)    |               10 |                 113 |                28 |                             0 |                   165 |                    137 |
|        15 | Katihar            |                4 |                  67 |                57 |                             0 |                   129 |                     59 |
|        16 | Khagaria           |               31 |                  65 |                19 |                             0 |                   117 |                     44 |
|        17 | Kishanganj         |               23 |                 246 |                44 |                             8 |                   342 |                    152 |
|        18 | Lakhisarai         |                2 |                  18 |                 8 |                             3 |                    34 |                     27 |
|        19 | Madhepura          |               11 |                  43 |                73 |                             1 |                   140 |                     82 |
|        20 | Madhubani          |               27 |                 307 |               105 |                            21 |                   500 |                    210 |
|        21 | Munger             |                7 |                  50 |                10 |                             4 |                    72 |                     46 |
|        22 | Muzaffarpur        |               16 |                 127 |               126 |                             2 |                   289 |                    204 |
|        23 | Nalanda            |                0 |                  50 |                22 |                             0 |                    74 |                     50 |
|        24 | Nawada             |               21 |                 280 |                79 |                             3 |                   412 |                    233 |
|        25 | Pashchim Champaran |               44 |                 188 |                79 |                            11 |                   333 |                    235 |
|        26 | Patna              |               38 |                 143 |                10 |                             1 |                   202 |                    122 |
|        27 | Purbi Champaran    |                2 |                  27 |                11 |                             0 |                    40 |                     35 |
|        28 | Purnia             |               10 |                 107 |                38 |                             0 |                   166 |                     77 |
|        29 | Rohtas             |               26 |                 311 |                49 |                             2 |                   401 |                    243 |
|        30 | Saharsa            |               17 |                  41 |               128 |                             3 |                   190 |                     72 |

| 31       | Samastipur   |   27 |   175 |   50 |   17 |   290 |   153 |
|----------|--------------|------|-------|------|------|-------|-------|
| 32       | Saran        |   13 |   137 |   51 |   20 |   229 |   160 |
| 33       | Sheikhpura   |    0 |    74 |    4 |    0 |    79 |    37 |
| 34       | Sheohar      |    0 |    49 |   11 |   10 |    72 |    37 |
| 35       | Sitamarhi    |   10 |   146 |   32 |   16 |   213 |   136 |
| 36       | Siwan        |   40 |   138 |   75 |    0 |   271 |   177 |
| 37       | Supaul       |   30 |   436 |  132 |    5 |   634 |   181 |
| 38       | Vaishali     |   28 |    43 |   68 |    1 |   150 |   104 |
| Total :- | Total :-     |  576 |  5227 | 2182 |  157 |  8636 |  4830 |

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