Grant of ₹ 12,351 crore released for Rural Local Bodies

Total grant of ₹ 45,738 crore has been released to Rural Local bodies so far in 2020-21

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has released an amount of ₹ 12,351.5 crore to 18 States for providing grants to the Rural Local Bodies (RLBs).  This amount is the 2^nd instalment of basic grants released in the financial year 2020-21. 

The grant has been released to 18 States who have provided the Utilisation Certificate for the first instalment and on the recommendation of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. 

The grants to RLBs are released as per the recommendations of the 15^th Finance Commission to create community assets and improve financial viability of the RLBs.  The grants are provided to all the three tiers of Panchayati Raj -  Village, Block and District to enable pooling of resources across villages and blocks.  

The 15^th Finance Commission has recommended two types of grants to the RLBs – basic and tied grants.  Basic grants are untied and can be used by the local bodies for location specific felt needs except for salary or other establishment expenditure.  The tied grants can be used for the basic services of (a) sanitation and maintenance of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status and (b) supply of drinking water, rain water harvesting and water recycling.

The grants are meant to ensure additional funds to RLBs over and above the funds allocated by the Centre and the State for sanitation and drinking water under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes like Swachh Bharat and Jal Jeevan Mission. 

The States are required to transfer the grants to the RLBs within 10 working days of receipt from the Union Government.  Any delay beyond 10 working days requires the State Governments to release the grants with interest. 

Earlier, the first instalment of basic grants to RLBs and arrears of 14^th Finance Commission amounting to ₹ 18,199 crore were released to all the States in June, 2020.  Subsequently, the 1^st instalment of tied grants amounting to ₹ 15,187.50 crore was also released to all the States.   Thus, a total amount of ₹ 45,738 crore of both basic and tied grants has been released so far by the Department of Expenditure to the States for RLBs.  State-wise amount of the grants released so far is enclosed. 

State-wise amount of Rural Local Bodies Grants released in 2020-21

(Rs. In crore)

S.No.	Name of the State	Total RLB grant released
1.	Andhra Pradesh	3137.03
2.	Arunachal Pradesh	418.80
3.	Assam	802.00
4.	Bihar	3763.50
5.	Chhattisgarh	1090.50
6.	Goa	37.50
7.	Gujarat	2396.25
8.	Haryana	948.00
9.	Himachal Pradesh	321.75
10.	Jharkhand	1266.75
11.	Karnataka	2412.75
12.	Kerala	1221.00
13.	Madhya Pradesh	2988.00
14.	Maharashtra	4370.25
15.	Manipur	88.50
16.	Meghalaya	91.00
17.	Mizoram	46.50
18.	Nagaland	62.50
19.	Odisha	1693.50
20.	Punjab	2233.91
21.	Rajasthan	1931.00
22.	Sikkim	31.50
23.	Tamil Nadu	1803.50
24.	Telangana	1385.25
25.	Tripura	143.25
26.	Uttar Pradesh	7314.00
27.	Uttarakhand	430.50
28.	West Bengal	3309.00
	Total	45737.99

 

Rural Local Bodies grants: instalments released subject to utilisation certificates and prompt transfer requirements. Release of central grants to Rural Local Bodies under the 15th Finance Commission comprises untied basic grants (excluding salary/establishment expenditure) and tied grants for sanitation and drinking water; grants supplement Centrally Sponsored Schemes and are payable to all three Panchayati Raj tiers. Subsequent instalments require a Utilisation Certificate and administrative recommendation; subnational governments must transfer funds to local bodies within a short statutory timeframe, with interest payable on delayed transfers. The release schedule and state wise amounts for the fiscal year are recorded.