Parliament Question: Central Support for strengthening Rural Local Bodies

GOVERNMENTOF INDIA MINISTRYOF PANCHAYATIRAJ LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 2698 ANSWEREDON 16.12.2025 CENTRALSUPPORT FORSTRENGTHENING RURALLOCALBODIES

2698.SHRISASIKANTHSENTHIL:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATIRAJ be pleasedto state:

(a) the details of initiatives taken by the Union Government to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions through Centrally supported programmes, including reforms promoted under the Rashtriya Gram SwarajAbhiyan (RGSA);

(b) the total Funds released, utilised and audited under RGSA and other Union-supported capacity-buildinginitiatives, during the last five years, State/UT-wise;

(c) the proposals received for training, e-governance systems, digital record-keeping and institutional strengthening underRGSA, alongwith theirstatus from States/UTs; and

(d) the measures adopted by the Union Government to enhance planning, online monitoring, transparency andcapacity-building frameworks at the nationallevel? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRIRAJEEVRANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH)

(a) Panchayat is a State subject and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) supplements and complements the efforts of State Governments, including fund support under the schemes towards functioning of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) on a continuous basis. The details of ongoing schemes and recent major initiatives/reforms of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to strengthen PRIs through Centrally supported programmes, including reforms promoted underthe revampedRashtriya Gram SwarajAbhiyan (RGSA) are giveninAnnexure-I.

(b) The Ministry of Panchayati Raj implements the only Centrally Sponsored Scheme of RGSAfor capacity buildingof the elected representativesand functionaries of the PRIs. Also, assistance in limited scale is provided for infrastructure needs such as construction of Gram Panchayat Bhawan and computerisation. The State/UT-wise release of Central Share of funds and utilisation under the RGSAscheme during the last five years is as per Annexure-II. The release/expenditure have beenauditeduptothe year2023-24.

1(c) Theproposalssubmittedbythe States/UTsintheirrespectiveAnnualActionPlans(AAPs) are examined within the framework of RGSAscheme.The AAPsof 2025-26 receivedfrom 32 States/UTs, which was considered and approved by Central Empowered Committee, consisting of different components viz. Capacity Building & Training (CB&T), institutional support for CB&T and basic infrastructure like Gram Panchayat Bhawan ad computer on limited scale. Under the scheme of RGSA, 1.37 crore participants have beenprovided training under different categories. The State / UT- wise detail is at Annexure-III. Under the scheme, construction of 13,342 Gram Panchayat Bhawans and procurement of 55,587 computers have been approved for effective functioning of Gram Panchayats. The State-wise detail of Gram Panchayat Bhawan and computers approved under the scheme is at Annexure-IV. Further, to strengthen institutional support for CB&T, recurring cost for 25 State Panchayat Resource Centres and 490 District Panchayat Resource Centres have been approved under the scheme during 2025-26.

(d) To empower local communities and to promote participatory governance, MoPR conducts People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) every year commencing from 2nd October (Gandhi Jayanti) to facilitate the preparation of Panchayat Development Plans (PDP) at District, Block and Gram Panchayat levels focusing on inclusive development. Under PPC, structured meetings at Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) levels are held to prepare development plans. These deliberative forums bring together local communities, elected members, Self-help Groups

(SHGs), and line department officials to discuss local needs, review progress of earlier works, and prioritise future actions. Preparation of PDPs ensures participatory planning at all three levels, i.e. Zilla Parishad at District level, Panchayat Samiti at Block level and Gram Panchayatat village level.

Under the Digital India initiative, Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been promoting financial as well as governance transparency, efficiency, and accountability at the grassroots level by developing and popularising various digital platforms and applications. The eGramSwaraj application hasbeendesigned tofacilitate digitalplanning,accounting,monitoring, andonline payments at the Panchayat level. The integration of eGramSwaraj with the PFMS enables real -time payments to vendors and service providers, ensuring seamless fund flow and reducing delays. The eGramSwarajapplication hasbeenintegrated with the Government e-Marketplace

(GeM) to bring transparency to Panchayat procurement. Thisintegration allows Panchayats to procure goods and services through GeM via the eGramSwaraj platform, promoting the “Vocal for Local” initiative. The digital applications developed by the Ministry like Meri Panchayat have endeavored to bring transparency in Panchayat Governance by making information on planning, activities and progress of works in Panchayat accessible to public.

The Online Panchayat NIRNAY application aims to bring transparency and better management in conduct of Gram Sabhas by Panchayats. Further, the ‘AuditOnline’ application developed under the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) facilitates online auditsof Panchayataccounts andsupports improvedfinancialmanagement.

Under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA), training is provided to the elected representatives and functionaries of the PRIs at all levels for building their governance capabilities on various subjects/themes including preparation of effective PDPs and e- Governance tools. In addition to the arrangement of training in State Institute of Rural Developments & Panchayati Raj (SIRDPR),District Panchayat Resources Centers at the State 2and District levels, at National level, the National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) conducts various capacity building training programmes. Besides, the Leadership/ Management Development Programme (MDP) are being conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Excellence such as Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), etc. with the major objective of honing the essential leadership skills, including but not limited to communication, decision-making, and conflict resolution, thereby nurturing effective leadership qualitiesof the Panchayats.

*** 3Annexure-I Statement referred to in Part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2698 regarding CentralSupport forStrengthening RuralLocal BodiesAnswered on16.12.2025 Details of Schemes and Major Initiatives/Reforms of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj for Strengthening thePanchayatiRaj Institutions Sl. Schemes/Initiatives Objectives No.

1 Centrally Sponsored Scheme To strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) through of Rashtriya revamped Gram capacity building and training of the Elected Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) Representatives (ERs) and their functionaries, and providing infrastructural support like construction of Gram Panchayat Bhawan andcomputerization.

2 Incentivization of Panchayats To promote healthycompetition amongPRIsbyrecognising

(IoP), a central componentof and rewarding best-performing Panchayats for their the RGSAscheme achievements in service delivery, public welfare, and recently—their progress toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

3 Mission Mode Project on e- To fund various e-governance projects to develop digital Panchayats (MMP- solutions to promote digitalization of Panchayats, bringing ePanchayat), a central efficiency, accountability, and transparency to the component of the RGSA functioning of PRIs and contributing to their overall scheme, transformation. The digital platform such as eGramSwaraj and AuditOnline have been developed for overall transformation in rural local governance and ensuring transparency.

RecentMajorInitiatives/Reforms 4 Enablement of Panchayatsto The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is actively working in Mobilize Own Sourcesof collaboration with the States to augment OSR generation in Revenue PRIs by facilitating the formulation of relevant rules. The Ministry has developed the Samarth digital application for tax demandgeneration andcollectionat the PRIlevel andis collaborating with Institutions like IIM oncapacity-building modules.

5 Leadership/ Management The Leadership/ Management Development Programme Development Programme (MDP) for Elected Representativeness and officials of

(MDP) for Panchayati Raj Panchayats with the institute of Excellence such as Indian Intuitions (PRIs) Institute of Management (IIM), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Institute of Rural Management Anand

(IRMA), etc. has been started with the major objective of honing the essential leadership skills, including but not limited to communication, decision-making, and conflict resolution, thereby nurturing effective leadership qualities of the Panchayats.

46 Long-Term Domestic Training Ministry of Panchayat Raj has taken initiative for the Programmes forHigher “Funding for Long-Term Domestic Training Programmes” Learning of Panchayat for upto one year of duration for officials of PRIs and Officials Panchayati Raj Department in the States/UTs under the State component of RGSA. The move aims at ensuring that the officials receive advanced, sector-specific training from Institutes of Excellence which will upgrade their skill set for betterservice deliveryat the grassroots.

7 Residential Foundation Ministry is supporting Residential Foundation Training Training Programme up to 45 Programme at State/UT level for up to 45 days for the days under RGSA for the newly recruited functionaries of PRIs, including Block Newly Recruited Development Officers, Panchayat Development Officers,

Functionaries of PRIs: Panchayat Secretaries, Village Extension Officers, Accountants, Tax Collectors, Rozgar Sahayaks, Panchayat Engineering Cadre officials, Gram Sevaks/Sevikas and otherofficials recruitedspecifically for serving inthe PRIs.

8 Shashkta Panchayat Netri The Ministry has launched a comprehensive specialized Abhiyan training module for the capacity buildingof WomenElected Representatives (WERs) of Panchayati Raj Institutions

(PRIs). The focus of the training module are to build the capacity of the WERs on different aspects of rural governance; enhance the knowledge & practical skills for effective delivery of roles & responsibilities as elected representatives and also to develop the leadership, communication, managerial& decision-making skills for effective women ledgovernance.

9 Centre of ExcellenceonPESA Towards strengthening the local self-governance in tribal (For PESA States such as areas and effective implementation of the Provisions of the Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, (PESA-1996), Centre of Excellence on PESA has been Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, established in the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan Amarakantak, Madhya Pradesh under the aegis of Ministry andTelangana) of Panchayati Raj for capacity building of tribal leaders, preservation & promotion of customary law and practices andstrengthening institutional support andresearch.

10 ModelYouthGramSabha To foster awareness and participation among the youth in grassroots democracy and the Panchayati Raj system by simulating the functioning of Gram Sabhas within educational institutions, the initiative has been launched encouraging the school students to participate and learn the functioning of the rural local governance and instil democratic values of inclusivity and equity, and build leadership and critical thinking skills. It also seeks to enhance awareness about local governance and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thereby empowering students to contribute meaningfully to national 5development.

11 MeriPanchayat Application Meri Panchayat App is a Mobile Governance (m- Governance) App developed to make information, aggregated from different portals of this Ministry pertaining to functioning of Gram Panchayats, easily accessible to public.

12 GramPanchayat Level The Gram Panchayat level weather forecasting initiative, WeatherForecasting developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) and the India Meteorological Department

(IMD), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), provides Gram Panchayats with weather forecast on temperature, rainfall, wind speed, cloud cover, humidity with a five-day weather forecast andhourly updates.

13 eGramSwaraj-BHASHINI This integration allows eGramSwaraj to provide services in integration 22 scheduled languages of India through Bhashini’s AI- powered translation, making local-language accessibility a realityfor users across India.

14 SabhaSaar To make Gram Sabha documentation faster, easier, and in a structured format, an AI-enabled application-"SabhaSaar" has been developed and launched on 14.08.2025 to automatically generate Minutes of Meetings (MoM) from audioandvideorecordings of Gram Sabhameetings.

15 Citizen Charter and Service Citizen Charter, has since been extended to the Gram Deliveryby PRIs Panchayat with the prime emphasis on ease of living. In 2021, the Model Citizen Charter was launched to standardize service delivery across Panchayats by setting clear service standards, time limits, grievance redress mechanisms, andcitizen scrutiny.

6Annexure-II Statement referred to in Part (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2698 regarding Central Support for Strengthening RuralLocal BodiesAnswered on16.12.2025 State/UT-wise FundsReleased and UtilizedundertheSchemeRashtriya GramSwarajAbhiyanfrom2020-21 to 2024-25 (Rs. inCrores) 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Sl. Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds N StateName Release Utilized Release Utilized Release Utilized Release Utilized Release Utilized o d ^ d ^ d ^ d ^ d ^ ANDHRA

65.20 38.54 7.45 0.00 5.62 0.00 21.35 2.52 59.64 1 PRADESH 22.34 ARUNACHAL

8.53 30.07 35.42 108.69 132.45 72.09 89.97 70.00 77.94 2 PRADESH 0.00 3 ASSAM 26.12 62.48 44.04 30.79 55.29 95.15 77.70 91.41 60.00 71.87 4 BIHAR 0.00 38.63 63.76 59.31 33.37 70.07 25.00 51.81 0.00 75.08 5 CHHATTISGARH 4.04 11.24 7.93 6.04 0.00 29.52 17.57 22.25 16.50 34.12 6 GOA 0.00 0.98 0.59 0.39 0.00 1.12 0.89 1.00 1.35 1.29 7 GUJARAT 0.00 11.54 0.00 5.16 0.00 0.01 0.00 1.28 0.00 15.48 8 HARYANA 9.89 3.39 0.00 7.90 0.00 3.06 0.00 8.84 5.00 8.22 HIMACHAL

12.40 32.42 74..74 60.65 37.49 19.31 69.30 27.21 42.94 9 PRADESH 22.10 JAMMU AND

9.56 40.00 66.15 40.00 57.75 65.00 98.61 65.00 57.89 10 KASHMIR 25.00 11 JHARKHAND 2.34 0.92 7.74 1.78 0.00 18.44 31.00 25.95 0.00 26.47 12 KARNATAKA 0.44 49.32 29.15 32.34 36.00 25.67 20.00 39.02 16.25 49.53 13 KERALA 8.13 11.40 12.00 12.15 30.40 23.13 10.00 37.04 10.00 32.65 72020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Sl. Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds N StateName Release Utilized Release Utilized Release Utilized Release Utilized Release Utilized o d ^ d ^ d ^ d ^ d ^ MADHYA

110.91 47.11 84.40 28.00 145.17 32.17 74.16 40.00 96.82 14 PRADESH 71.42 15 MAHARASHTRA 66.76 73.71 73.34 102.26 37.84 129.03 116.12 194.26 80.00 134.79 16 MANIPUR 3.41 4.18 2.98 0.00 8.63 3.31 9.56 8.34 0.00 3.91 17 MEGHALAYA 3.97 0.60 0.00 2.64 0.00 6.41 6.00 6.26 8.00 7.60 18 MIZORAM 21.19 4.72 5.56 0.52 14.27 25.48 10.00 15.64 12.00 19.63 19 NAGALAND 3.72 9.15 4.58 10.38 0.00 0.00 10.00 5.46 10.00 15.32 20 ODISHA 2.94 4.24 1.33 23.62 11.40 24.83 27.33 44.22 20.00 60.15 21 PUNJAB 13.45 22.42 10.78 2.88 34.25 42.91 10.00 23.06 5.00 23.89 22 RAJASTHAN 12.98 34.65 17.27 4.54 0.00 32.53 21.72 40.12 15.00 30.88 23 SIKKIM 4.75 5.77 1.19 6.01 6.01 4.98 6.00 7.90 7.00 7.19 24 TAMILNADU 56.88 103.01 39.89 71.12 25.42 8.53 0.00 25.98 45.00 63.69 25 TELANGANA 12.00 1.69 0.00 2.42 0.00 3.19 20.00 20.47 0.00 8.99 26 TRIPURA 2.53 5.42 4.67 4.98 9.80 3.76 7.43 10.96 10.00 20.24 27 UTTAR PRADESH 32.54 245.33 83.08 109.25 85.05 96.33 84.13 158.95 38.77 180.84 28 UTTARAKHAND 26.75 28.67 0.00 15.33 42.48 57.15 64.67 66.29 50.00 63.72 29 WESTBENGAL 33.52 56.50 15.14 35.28 4.28 50.89 33.69 57.32 52.68 82.56

489.21 996.56 613.17 740.51 671.83 1133.98 797.38 1317.22 667.28 1373.34 UTs Andaman& 30 Nicobar 0.00 0.83 0.00 1.09 0.00 1.03 0.79 1.28 2.12 1.18 31 DNH&DD 0.00 0.35 0.00 0.18 1.14 4.5 1.00 0.38 1.00 0.24 32 Ladakh 2.15 0.00 1.08 1.56 0.00 1.52 1.00 0.80 0.00 0.58 Sub-Total 491.36 614.25 672.97 800.17 670.40 Agencies 8.59 3.75 10.01 14.69 23.77 Total 499.95 997.74 618.00 743.34 682.98 1141.03 814.86 1319.68 694.17 1375.34 8Note: Fund utilized includes matching State Share and interest earned in Single Nodal Account (SNA). Data source for 2022-23 onwards isPFMS-SNA-01report andprior tothat UCsreceivedfrom State.

^ Includesunspentbalanceof previous yearandStateshare.

9Annexure-III Statement referred to in Part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2698 regarding CentralSupport forStrengthening RuralLocal BodiesAnswered on16.12.2025 Year-wise andState/UT- wise detailsof participants providedtraining underRGSAscheme Sl. 2025-26 (As States 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 No on25.11.2025 1 Andaman& Nicobar Islands 1874 2865 5221 1143 2 Andhra Pradesh 649156 165001 325643 201930 3 Arunachal Pradesh 3,711 6138 12344 8794 4 Assam 227733 348183 144936 49383 5 Bihar 404406 163809 435896 124860 6 Chhattisgarh 121099 163292 90559 42922 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and 7 575 1000 1073 680 DamanandDiu 8 Goa 1777 3548 4519 1694 9 Gujarat 250 1938 90368 22112 10 Haryana 4859 12431 11909 89417 11 HimachalPradesh 9531 92458 120455 10722 12 Jammu & Kashmir 284138 350026 82534 9091 13 Jharkhand 8302 54056 135817 88437 14 Karnataka 213467 363317 321380 196658 15 Kerala 179478 149153 129632 44072 16 Ladakh 0 0 26 31 17 Madhya Pradesh 281610 86884 242279 130586 18 Maharashtra 1041165 984321 363111 29978 19 Manipur 894 5591 195 2871 20 Meghalaya 11,588 74410 78537 6401 21 Mizoram 2659 9800 9841 5496 22 Nagaland 1832 3435 4725 2389 23 Odisha 79116 160774 279505 145435 24 Punjab 36378 13359 122848 58785 25 Rajasthan 2481 96389 71795 263011 26 Sikkim 13,552 11249 6709 3805 27 Tamil Nadu 106560 101513 78490 37384 28 Telangana 14506 2441 1701 13175 29 Tripura 7743 63715 54228 33849 1030 Uttarakhand 48241 144374 22342 3171 31 Uttar Pradesh 263409 82712 76302 192955 32 West Bengal 174974 272762 228081 154769 33 NIRDPR andOthers 5229 1438 1941 1709 39,92,38 35,54,94 Total 42,02,293 19,77,715 2 2 11Annexure-IV Statement referred to in Part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2698 regarding CentralSupport forStrengthening RuralLocal BodiesAnswered on16.12.2025 State/ UT wise Statusof GPBhawan/ComputersApproved RGSASchemesince 2022-23 Sl. Numberof GPBhawan Numberof Computers State/UT No. approved Approved 1 A&N Islands (UT) 2 0 2 Andhra Pradesh 617 1922 3 Arunachal Pradesh 1339 1936 4 Assam 610 2055 5 Bihar 500 4267 6 Chhattisgarh 334 6496 7 DNHDD (UT) 17 4 8 Goa 1 25 9 Gujarat 412 43 10 Haryana 892 1363 11 HimachalPradesh 343 334 12 J&K (UT) 1000 1318 13 Jharkhand 0 2306 14 Karnataka 258 0 15 Kerala 7 200 16 Ladakh(UT) 3 127 17 Lakshadweep (UT) 0 0 18 Madhya Pradesh 50 289 19 Maharashtra 1376 1625 20 Manipur 43 141 21 Meghalaya 36 1677 22 Mizoram 368 591 23 Nagaland 183 739 24 Odisha 500 350 25 Puducherry(UT) 0 0 26 Punjab 759 8334 27 Rajasthan 43 1554 28 Sikkim 27 235 29 Tamil Nadu 146 1594 30 Telangana 856 3452 31 Tripura 131 493 32 Uttar Pradesh 1273 3145 33 Uttarakhand 1012 7260 34 West Bengal 204 1712 Total 13,342 55,587 12