Parliament Question: Panchayati Raj Institutions in Assam

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRYOF PANCHAYATIRAJ LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 537 ANSWEREDON 03.02.2026 PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS IN ASSAM 537.MD. RAKIBULHUSSAIN: Will the Minister of PANCHAYATIRAJ be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has reviewed the functioning of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) inAssam; (b) the numberof Gram Panchayats functioningunderthe three-tiersystem inthe State; (c)whether allPanchayats are receivingfunds andgrantsina timelymanner; and (d) the measures takentostrengthen decentralisedgovernance at the grassroots level? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRIRAJIVRANJAN SINGH) (a) to (d) As perthe provision of Constitution of India and the State Panchayati Raj Acts , Panchayati Raj Institutions are Constitutional bodies. Since, “Panchayat”, being “Local Government”,is a Statesubject and part of State List of SeventhSchedule 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. Article 243G of the Constitution empowers the Legislature of a State to make provisions, bylaw, for the devolution of power and responsibilities upon Panchayat at appropriate level, subject to such conditions as may be specified, with respect tothe preparation of plans for economic development and social justice and implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice as may be entrusted to them including those in relation to matters included in the Eleventh Schedule to the Constitution. The State legislatures are to consider the 29 subjects set out in the Eleventh Schedule for devolution of power and responsibilities upon Panchayats. Accordingly, the enhancement in devolution of powers, functions and resources to Panchayats depends on the extent of powers and resources devolved to them by the Statesconcerned, which variesacross States. Accordingly, allmattersrelatingtoPanchayats, includingreviewingof functioningof Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) , strengthening decentralized governance etc, comes under the jurisdiction of the state concerned. The Government of Assam has informed that regular meetings have been held to review the functioning of PRIs.There are total 2192 Gram Panchayats functioning under the three-tier system in the state of Assam and all Panchayats are receiving funds and grants in a timelymanner. 1Also, the grants recommended by the 15th Finance Commission for Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) are released by the Ministry of Finance to the States in accordance with the guidelines issued in this regard. The details of allocation and release of grants under the 15th FinanceCommission tothe Stateof Assam for RLBs are asunder: (Rs. inCrore) S.No. Year Allocation Release 1 2020-21 1604.00 1604.00 (Interim Period) 2 2021-22 1186.00 1186.00 3 2022-23 1228.00 1228.00 4 2023-24 1241.00 1241.00 5 2024-25 1315.00 1315.00 6 2025-26 1283.00 213.90(Till date) Further, to strengthen the local self-governanceframework of Panchayati Raj Institutions across the country, this Ministry has launched eGramSwaraj (https://egramswaraj.gov.in), a user friendly web-based portal, which aims to bring in better transparency in the decentralized planning, progress reporting, financial management, work- based accounting and details of assets created. The eGramSwaraj portal has also been integrated with Public Financial Management System for online transfer of the Central Finance Commission funds by the States to PRIs and enabling Panchayats to make real-time payments to vendors/service providers. Panchayats prepare and upload their Annual Panchayat Development Plans on eGramSwaraj portal. In addition, the Ministry has integrated eGramSwaraj with the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to bring transparency to Panchayat procurement. The Ministry has implemented Mission Mode Project on e-Panchayats (MMP- ePanchayat), a Central component of the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) scheme under which various e-governance projects are funded towards digitalization of Panchayats. Revamped CentrallySponsored Scheme of RGSAhasbeenimplemented w.e.f. financial year 2022-23 in States/ Union Territories with main objective for capacitating PRIs through imparting training to all the Elected Representatives, functionaries and other stakeholders to developtheirgovernance capabilitiesfor leadership rolestoenable the Panchayatstofunction effectively. Under the scheme, Ministry supplements the efforts of States/UTs on limited scale for creating basic infrastructure for effective functioning of Gram Panchayats such as Construction of Gram Panchayat Bhawans, Computers and Co-location of Common Service Centres (CSC) with Gram Panchayat Bhawans with focus on North East States, as proposed by States/UTs in their Annual Action Plans and later approved by Central Empowered Committee. Ministry has also been providing support to the States/UTs, under the scheme of revamped RGSAfor setting up of Project Management Units (PMUs) at States, District and Block level as approved in the Annual Action Plan for effective implementation of the scheme and setting upof institutional mechanism asState, District andBlocklevel Panchayat Resource Centrestosupport Capacity Building & Training of Panchayats. An online application ‘AuditOnline’ has been developed for online audit of Panchayat accounts and their financial management. AuditOnline portal, launched in April 2020, facilitates transparent auditing of Central Finance Commission funds utilization and strengthens financial management of Panchayats. Similarly, Panchayat NIRNAY is an online 2application which aims at bringing transparency and better management in conduct of Gram SabhasbyPanchayats. The Government of Assam has also informed that in the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP), Gram Panchayat-wise planning is prepared by the PRIs in a participatoryanddecentralized manner. **** 3