Lok Sabha Question No. 179 (STARRED), answered on 2023-08-01
Subject: Empowerment of Panchayats
Ministry: PANCHAYATI RAJ
Asked by: Ajay Kumar Mandal, Jugal Kishore Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *179

ANSWERED ON-01.08.2023

## EMPOWERMENT OF PANCHAYATS

## †*179. SHRI AJAY KUMAR MANDAL: SHRI JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state:

- (a) the basic facilities provided by the Government to the Panchayats so far;
- (b) the  details  of  the  achievements  made  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and  the current year, State-wise;
- (c) whether the basic facilities provided by the Government to the Panchayats with the aim  to  improve  the  standard  of  living  in  the  villages  of  the  country  have  been reviewed and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  details  of  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  for  the  empowerment  of Panchayats; and
- (e) whether the Government proposes to examine all the Centrally sponsored schemes by sending  a  central  team  to  Khainsa  Jamalpur  Panchayat  of  Kiratpur  division  in Darbhanga Parliamentary Constituency?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ

(SHRI GIRIRAJ SINGH)

- (a) to (e) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  to  (e)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *179 FOR ANSWER ON 01.08.2023 REGARDING 'EMPOWERMENT OF PANCHAYATS'

(a) to (e) Panchayat, being 'Local Government', is a State subject and part of State list of Seventh Schedule of Constitution of India. Mandate for setting up of three tiers of Panchayats is provided by Article  243  in  Part  IX  of  the  Constitution  of  India.  Accordingly,  the  Panchayats  are  setup  and operated through the respective State Panchayati Raj Acts. As such, providing the basic facilities to the Panchayats is the responsibility of the States.

Ministry  of  Panchayati  Raj  (MoPR)  supplements  the  efforts  of  the  States  through  Central Finance  Commission  Grants  and  Revamped  Rashtriya  Gram  Swaraj  Abhiyan(RGSA).  The  RGSA scheme  provides  financial  and  technical  support  to  the  states  for  Capacity  Building  and  Training (CB&T)  of  elected  representatives  and  functionaries  of  Panchayati  Raj  Institutions  with  focus  on Gram  Panchayat  Development  Plan  (GPDP)  so  as  to  enable  them  to  discharge  their  mandated functions effectively.

Fifteenth  Finance  Commission  (XV  FC)  Grants  are  provided  to  the  Rural  Local  Bodies (RLBs) in all the three tiers of Panchayats and Traditional Bodies in 28 States. XV FC Grants have two components; namely, Basic (Untied) Grants and Tied Grants. The Basic (Untied) grants can be used for felt  needs  of  basic  facilities  under  the  29  subjects  enshrined  in  the  11 th Schedule  of  the Constitution  of  India,  except  for  salaries  and  other  establishment  costs.  The  Tied  Grants  are  to  be utilised for basic facilities, specifically, for drinking water and sanitation.

State-wise allocation and release of Fifteenth Finance Commission Grants to the Panchayats and Rural Local Bodies, during the last three years and current year is furnished in Annexure.

MoPR reviews the performance of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) throughout the country from time to time through  studies, review  meetings,  field visits, video conferencing,  Information Technology applications, Common Review Missions (CRMs) etc.

To strengthen functioning of PRIs across the country, MoPR has launched eGramSwaraj(https://egramswaraj.gov.in), a user friendly web-based portal, which aims to bring in better  transparency  in  the  decentralised  planning,  progress  reporting,  financial  management,  workbased  accounting  and  details  of  assets  created.  Further,  for  ensuring  timely  audit  of  Panchayat accounts  i.e.  receipts  and  expenditures  of  Gram  Panchayats,  MoPR  has  rolled  out  an  online application  -  AuditOnline  (https://auditonline.gov.in).  This  application  not  only  facilitates  the auditing of Panchayat accounts but also provides for maintaining of audit records. This application streamlines the  process  for  audit  inquiries,  draft  local  audit  reports,  draft  audit  paras  etc.  and  thus ensures proper maintenance of accounts by Panchayats to improve transparency and accountability.

To  deliver  various  citizen  centric  services  online  in  the  rural  areas  and  Gram  Panchayats, Common  Service  Centres(CSCs)  have  been  setup  through  a  'Common  Service  Centre  -  Special Purpose Vehicle' (CSC-SPV), a society of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (a)  to  (e)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Starred  Question  No.  179 answer on 01.08.2023 regarding 'Empowerment of Panchayats'

Allocation and Release of Fifteenth Finance Commission Grants to the States for Rural Local Bodies for during the last three years and current year : -

(Rs. in crore)

| Sl. No.   | States            | 2020-21    | 2020-21   | 2021-22    | 2021-22   | 2022-23    | 2022-23   | 2023-24    | 2023-24   |
|-----------|-------------------|------------|-----------|------------|-----------|------------|-----------|------------|-----------|
| Sl. No.   | States            | Allocation | Release   | Allocation | Release   | Allocation | Release   | Allocation | Release   |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    | 2625.00    | 2625.00   | 1939.00    | 1917.85   | 2010.00    | 988.35    | 2031.00    | -----     |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh | 231.00     | 231.00    | 170.00     | 85.00     | 177.00     | 0.00      | 179.00     | -----     |
| 3         | Assam             | 1604.00    | 1604.00   | 1186.00    | 1186.00   | 1228.00    | 1228.00   | 1241.00    | -----     |
| 4         | Bihar             | 5018.00    | 5018.00   | 3709.00    | 3709.00   | 3842.00    | 3842.00   | 3884.00    | -----     |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      | 1454.00    | 1454.00   | 1075.00    | 1075.00   | 1114.00    | 1114.00   | 1125.00    | -----     |
| 6         | Goa               | 75.00      | 75.00     | 55.00      | 55.00     | 57.00      | 0.00      | 58.00      | -----     |
| 7         | Gujarat           | 3195.00    | 3195.00   | 2362.00    | 2362.00   | 2446.00    | 2446.00   | 2473.00    | -----     |
| 8         | Haryana           | 1264.00    | 1264.00   | 935.00     | 935.00    | 968.00     | 193.46    | 979.00     | -----     |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh  | 429.00     | 429.00    | 317.00     | 317.00    | 329.00     | 329.00    | 332.00     | -----     |
| 10        | Jharkhand         | 1689.00    | 1689.00   | 1249.00    | 1249.00   | 1293.00    | 646.50    | 1307.00    | -----     |
| 11        | Karnataka         | 3217.00    | 3217.00   | 2377.00    | 2375.50   | 2463.00    | 2093.55   | 2490.00    | -----     |
| 12        | Kerala            | 1628.00    | 1628.00   | 1203.00    | 1203.00   | 1246.00    | 1246.00   | 1260.00    | -----     |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh    | 3984.00    | 3984.00   | 2944.00    | 2944.00   | 3050.00    | 1525.00   | 3083.00    | -----     |
| 14        | Maharashtra       | 5827.00    | 5827.00   | 4307.00    | 4107.82   | 4461.00    | 3626.14   | 4510.00    | -----     |
| 15        | Manipur           | 177.00     | 177.00    | 131.00     | 65.50     | 135.00     | 0.00      | 137.00     | -----     |
| 16        | Meghalaya         | 182.00     | 182.00    | 135.00     | 40.50     | 140.00     | 0.00      | 141.00     | -----     |
| 17        | Mizoram           | 93.00      | 93.00     | 69.00      | 34.50     | 71.00      | 0.00      | 72.00      | -----     |
| 18        | Nagaland          | 125.00     | 125.00    | 92.00      | 92.00     | 96.00      | 0.00      | 97.00      | -----     |
| 19        | Odisha            | 2258.00    | 2258.00   | 1669.00    | 1669.00   | 1728.00    | 1728.00   | 1747.00    | -----     |
| 20        | Punjab            | 1388.00    | 1388.00   | 1026.00    | 1026.00   | 1062.00    | 743.40    | 1074.00    | -----     |
| 21        | Rajasthan         | 3862.00    | 3862.00   | 2854.00    | 2854.00   | 2957.00    | 2955.34   | 2989.00    | -----     |
| 22        | Sikkim            | 42.00      | 42.00     | 31.00      | 31.00     | 33.00      | 33.00     | 33.00      | -----     |
| 23        | Tamil Nadu        | 3607.00    | 3607.00   | 2666.00    | 2666.00   | 2761.00    | 2761.00   | 2791.00    | -----     |
| 24        | Telangana         | 1847.00    | 1847.00   | 1365.00    | 1365.00   | 1415.00    | 1415.00   | 1430.00    | -----     |
| 25        | Tripura           | 191.00     | 191.00    | 141.00     | 141.00    | 147.00     | 147.00    | 148.00     | -----     |
| 26        | Uttar Pradesh     | 9752.00    | 9752.00   | 7208.00    | 7208.00   | 7466.00    | 7466.00   | 7547.00    | -----     |
| 27        | Uttarakhand       | 574.00     | 574.00    | 425.00     | 418.70    | 440.00     | 439.21    | 445.00     | -----     |
| 28        | West Bengal       | 4412.00    | 4412.00   | 3261.00    | 3217.02   | 3378.00    | 3292.85   | 3415.00    | -----     |
|           | Total             | 60750.00   | 60750.00  | 44901.00   | 44349.39  | 46513.00   | 40258.80  | 47018.00   | 0.00      |