**Executive Summary**
This document is an answer provided by the Minister of Panchayati Raj to Unstarred Question No. 2544 regarding Panchayat grants in Maharashtra, answered on December 16, 2025. It addresses the utilization of Panchayat grants, district and tier-wise breakdowns, reasons for unutilized funds, and measures to improve fund absorption and transparency. Annexure-I, Annexure-II and Annexure-III provide the district and tier-wise breakup of the release of 15th Finance Commission Grants for FY 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 respectively.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Unutilized Panchayat Grants in Maharashtra:**
* Tier-wise unutilized grants as of December 1, 2025: District Panchayat (20.21%), Block Panchayat (18.90%), Gram Panchayat (23.39%).
* Key reasons for unutilized funds: Changes in the Scope of Work, land issues, and works being cancelled by Panchayati Raj Institutions.
* **Release of Tied and Untied Grants:**
* Grants are released by the Ministry of Finance to the States based on recommendations from the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Jal Shakti, following the Operational Guidelines issued on July 14, 2021.
* Inter-se-distribution among Panchayat tiers is determined by the State Government based on the State Finance Commission's recommendations.
* Details of tier-wise breakup of tied and untied grants from the 15th Finance Commission released to Maharashtra for the last three years (2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25) are attached at Annexure-I, Annexure-II and Annexure-III respectively.
* **Transparency and Accountability Measures:**
* The Ministry operates the eGramSwaraj web portal for financial functions of Panchayats since April 2020.
* Integration of eGramSwaraj with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) enables real-time digital payments.
* The Audit-Online application was launched in April 2020 to enable online auditing of Panchayat accounts.
* **Incentivizing Best-Performing Panchayats:**
* National Panchayat Awards are awarded to incentivize Panchayats under the Incentivization of Panchayats scheme.
* Awards are revamped from 2023 to assess performance in attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through 9 identified Localization ofSustainable Development Goals (LSDG) themes.
* Financial incentives range from ₹50 lakh for a Gram Panchayat to ₹5 crore for a District Panchayat.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder**: Panchayats (Gram, Block, District) in Maharashtra
* **Impact**: Affected by the level of available and unutilized grants, changes in project scopes, land issues and cancellations. Also affected by the potential for National Panchayat Awards.
* **Action Required**: Address the reasons for unutilized funds, such as changes in Scope of Work and land issues. Implement measures to improve fund absorption and transparency. Eligible Panchayats should apply for the National Panchayat Awards.
**Stakeholder**: State Government of Maharashtra
* **Impact**: Responsible for reporting unutilized grants and the reasons for it, and for the distribution of funds between tiers.
* **Action Required**: Ensure accurate reporting of grant utilization and reasons for any unutilization. Distribute funds among Panchayat tiers based on the recommendations of the State Finance Commission.
**Stakeholder**: Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Jal Shakti
* **Impact**: Accountable for releasing grants and overseeing the implementation of transparency and accountability measures.
* **Action Required**: Continue releasing grants based on recommendations and monitor the utilization of funds through the eGramSwaraj portal, PFMS, and Audit-Online application. Continue incentivizing Panchayats with the National Panchayat Awards.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Panchayati Raj: The Indian government ministry responsible for matters related to Panchayati Raj institutions.
Panchayati Raj Institutions: Local self-government institutions at the village, intermediate, and district levels in India.
15th Finance Commission: The Fifteenth Finance Commission of India, which made recommendations regarding grants to Rural Local Bodies.
Maharashtra: The state in India to which the question and answer specifically pertain regarding Panchayat grants and unutilized funds.
Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA): A centrally sponsored scheme to improve the capabilities of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
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 15th 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
1Drinking 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 15th 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
15th 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) Self-
sufficient 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.
*****
2Annexure-I
District and tier-wise breakup of the Release of 15th Finance Commission Grants
for FY 2022-23 to RLBs in Maharashtra
Rs. In Lakh
Zilla Panchayat Gram
Sr no. District Total
Parishad Samiti Panchayat
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
Total 7912.00 8017.00 353742.00 369671.00
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 15th Finance Commission
Grants to RLBs.
3Annexure-II
District and tier-wise breakup of the Release of 15th Finance Commission Grants
for FY 2023-24 to RLBs in Maharashtra
Rs. in Lakh
Panchayat Gram
Sr no. District Zilla Parishad Total
Samiti Panchayat
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
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 15th Finance Commission
Grants to RLBs.
4Annexure-III
District and tier-wise breakup of the Release of 15th Finance Commission Grants
for FY 2024-25 to RLBs in Maharashtra
Rs. in Lakh
Sr no. District Zilla Parishad Panchayat Samiti Gram Panchayat 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 15th Finance Commission
Grants to RLBs.
***
5