Parliament Question: Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRYOF PANCHAYATI RAJ RAJYASABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION 4229 ANSWEREDON 01.04.2026 PANCHAYATIRAJ INSTITUTIONS (PRIS) 4229SHRINARAYANAKORAGAPPA: Will the Minister of PANCHAYATIRAJ be pleased to State: (a) details of funds provided and technical assistance given to Panchayats for various egovernance projectstodevelop digitalsolutions; (b) to what extent developed eGramSwaraj and AuditOnline are helping Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to transform themselves in rural local governance and ensuring transparency inthe country, particularlyinKarnataka; and (c) whether it is a fact that 16th Finance Commission submitted its Report and if so, details of funds or percentageof funds earmarkedfor Panchayats byit? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRIRAJIVRANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH) (a) Under the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project, funds are being provided to National Informatics Centre Services Inc. (NICSI) for central-level support towards maintenance of e- Panchayatapplications. No funds are beingreleasedtothe States/UTs Technical assistance isprovidedthrough centralized hosting ofe-Panchayat applications, application support, user management, issue resolution, updates, and onboarding support to States/UTs and Panchayats. Further, capacity-building programmes, training workshops, user guidelines and handholding support are also provided to Panchayati Raj Institutions for effective utilizationof digitaltoolsandtimely service delivery. (b) The Ministry is implementing the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) under RGSA across the country including Karnataka state, which has significantly enhanced transparency, efficiency,andgovernance at the grassroots level. The e-Gram Swaraj and AuditOnline applications, developed under e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP), have significantly contributed to strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) by enabling end-to-end digital governance. e-Gram Swaraj facilitates planning, budgeting, accounting and monitoring of Panchayat activities on a unified digital platform, thereby improving transparency, efficiency and real-time tracking of works and fund utilization. 1AuditOnline enables online auditing of Panchayat accounts, ensuring timely and standardizedauditprocesses, improved financialdiscipline andenhancedaccountability. Together, these platforms have helped PRIs transition towards data-driven decision-making, improved record keeping, better financial management and increased transparency in rural localgovernance. Further, the Ministry has also developed several other applications under the e- Panchayat MMP. The Meri Panchayat application provides citizens access to information on Panchayat planning, activities and progress of works. Panchayat NIRNAY facilitates transparent conduct and management of Gram Sabha meetings. In addition, the Ministry has introduced SabhaSaar, an AI-enabled platform for voice-to-text transcription and summarisation of Gram Sabha and Panchayat meetings to ensure accurate documentation of proceedings. As on 26.03.2026, during the current FY 2025–26, out of a total of 2,58,730 Gram Panchayats and equivalent across the states, 2,51,321 Gram Panchayats and equivalent (97.13%), have uploaded their Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs) on e-Gram Swaraj and 2,45,191 Gram Panchayats and equivalents (94.76%) have made payments amounting to ₹41,125 crore through the e-Gram Swaraj–PFMS interface. Further for the Audit period2023-24, Audit reportsfor 2,51,385GPshave beengenerated. (c) Yes, Sir. The Sixteenth Finance Commission has recommended a total grants of Rs. 7,91,493 crores (Rupees Seven lakh Ninety One thousand Four hundred and Ninety Three crores) for duly constituted Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) for the award periodfrom year202627toyear 203031. The allocation between ULBs and RLBs has been divided in the ratio of 40:60. Accordingly, out of the total allocation for Local Bodies, Rs. 3,56,257 crores (Rupees Three lakh Fifty Six thousand Two hundred and Fifty Seven crores), i.e. 40% of total Local Body Grant, has been recommended for the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Rs. 4,35,236 crores (Rupees Four lakh Thirty Five thousand Two hundred and Thirty Six crores), i.e. 60% of the totalLocalBody Grant, hasbeen earmarkedasgrantstoRural LocalBodies. The grant allocated for RLBs is further sub-divided into 80% as Basic grant (Rs. 3,48,188 crores), 10% as RLB performance grant (Rs. 43,524 crores) and 10% as State performance grant (Rs. 43,524 crores). The entire performance componentisuntied. The Basic grant is further divided into the ratio of 50:50 as Tied (Rs. 1,74,094 crores) and Untied (Rs. 1,74,094 crores). The tied component should be directed towards ‘Sanitation and Solid Waste Management’ and/or ‘Water Management’, including O&M expenditures for the aforementioned tied items. Untied grant used for projects based on localneeds(e.g.,roads, drains, street lights, burial grounds, parks). *** 2