Parliament Question: Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRYOF PANCHAYATI RAJ RAJYASABHA STARREDQUESTION NO. *207 ANSWEREDON 11/03/2026 PANCHAYATADVANCEMENTINDEX(PAI) *207 DR. ANILSUKHDEORAO BONDE: Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state: (a) how Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) scorecards are being used to identify theme- wise gaps in Panchayat performance; (b) the percentage increase in PAI scores of women-led Panchayats in 2025 as compared to 2024; (c) the steps being taken to develop top-performing Gram Panchayats in States such as Gujarat and Telangana as ‘Panchayat Learning Centres’ for exposure visits by ‘Beginner’ category Panchayats; and (d) steps that are being taken for ensuring that PAI scores are adopted as a benchmark for performance-based grants under the Finance Commission? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRIRAJIVRANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH) (a) & (b) The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has developed the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) as a composite assessment framework to assess the performance of Gram Panchayats/Equivalent to Gram Panchayats across nine themes aligned with the Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs). Under PAI, Panchayats are assigned scores for each of these nine themes, along with an overall/composite score. These theme-wise and overall scores, made available through scorecards and dashboards, help identify areas with relatively low scores, thereby enabling Panchayats to focus on such areas and take targeted steps for balanced and all-round development. The scores can also help identify Panchayats with relatively better performance in specific themes or in overall/composite performance, which maybe used for peerlearning anddissemination of goodpracticesamongPanchayats. PAI 1.0 for FY 2022-23 was released in April 2025. The scores for PAI 2.0 for FY 2023-24 were finalized in February 2026. However, the scores of PAI 1.0 and 2.0 are not comparable because the local indicators across 9 themes of LSDGs vary in the two surveys. Based on the recommendations of the Committee for Rationalization of Local Indicators under Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI), Ministry has introduced more relevant and representative local indicators and data points, while simplifying workflows to improve usability. In this process 1the number of indicators have been rationalised from 516 in PAI 1.0 to 150in PAI 2.0for the year2023-24. The exercise of PAI for the FY2024and2025 hasnot yet commenced. (c)The conceptof PanchayatLearningCentres(PLCs)envisagesidentifyingwell-performing Gram Panchayats as demonstration and peer-learning sites for sharing good practices in planning, service delivery, governance processes, and the implementation of development initiatives. PLCs are intended to facilitate experience-based learning, exposure visits, and knowledge exchangeamongPanchayats. Panchayats, being institutions of local self-government under the State List, and the identification and establishment of Panchayat Learning Centres fall primarily within the domainof the respective StateGovernments. However, the Ministry is implementing the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) w.e.f. the financial year2022-23, with the main objective of building the capacity of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for effective delivery of goodgovernance.The scheme also supplementsthe effortsof States/UTs ona limitedscale by supporting the establishment of institutional mechanisms by providing infrastructural support, such as the development of Panchayat Learning Centres (PLCs). Gram Panchayats with success stories/good practices or which have already shown exemplary work in identifiedthemesfor Local SustainableDevelopmentGoals are developed asPLCs. The PAI framework, through its theme-wise and overall performance scores, provides an evidence base to help identify top-performing Gram Panchayats on objective parameters, which may be referred to by States for various capacity-building, knowledge-sharing, and otheradministrative decision-makingpurposes. Under the Revamped RGSA, 33 Panchayat Learning Centres (PLCs) have been approved for the State of Gujarat and 9 PLCs for the State of Telangana during the year 2025-26. As per information provided by the Government of Gujarat, 33 Gram Panchayats, one from each district, have been selected as Panchayat Learning Centres in the State. As reported by the State, the score obtained under the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) 1.0 has been considered as one of the criteria for the selection of these Panchayats by the State Government. (d) Performance-based grants to Panchayats are governed by the recommendations of the Finance Commission and the guidelines issued by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. Under the Fifteenth Finance Commission, PAI scores were neither prescribed nor linked as a benchmark for the release of Finance Commission grants. The Sixteenth Finance Commission Report has not linked the PAI Scores benchmark for performance-based grants underthe FinanceCommission. **** 2