Grant-in-aid of ₹ 2221.2 crore released to Rural Local Bodies in Bihar, Karnataka and West Bengal

Total grant of ₹ 31,765.3 crore released to Rural Local bodies so far in 2021-22

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance on Friday released an amount of    Rs. 2,221.2 crore to Bihar, Karnataka and West Bengal for providing grants to the Rural Local Bodies.  ₹ 1,112.7 crore has been released to Bihar, ₹ 473.9 crore to Karnataka and ₹ 634.6 crore to West Bengal.  This Grant-in-aid is the 2nd installment of Tied grants to the State of Bihar and Untied grant to the States of Karnataka and West Bengal of the year 2021-22.

15^th Finance Commission(FC-XV) recommended Tied grants are released to Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) on the recommendations of the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation for making improvements on two critical services namely (a) Sanitation and maintenance of open-defecation free (ODF) status and (b) supply of drinking water, rain water harvesting and water recycling. Untied grants are released to Rural Local Bodies(RLBs) on the recommendations of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj after satisfying the conditions stipulated by the 15^th Finance Commission (FC-XV).

Out of the total Grant-in-aid earmarked for Panchayati Raj institutions, 60 percent is earmarked for national priorities like drinking water supply, rainwater harvesting and sanitation (referred as tied grants), while 40 percent is untied and is to be utilized at the discretion of the Panchayati Raj institutions for location specific felt needs.

 The Local Body grants are meant to ensure additional funds to Rural local bodies over and above the funds allocated by the Centre and the State for sanitation and drinking water under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

In order to be eligible for grants during the years 2021-22 and 2022-23, Rural Local Bodies have to fulfill certain conditions.  These conditions have been stipulated to enhance transparency, regular conduct of elections to the local bodies and preparation of annual development plans by the local bodies. 

To receive both tied and untied grants, it is mandatory to prepare and make available online, in the public domain by at least 25 percent of the local bodies, both provisional accounts of the previous year and the audited accounts of the year before previous year.  Moreover, the accounts must be uploaded on eGramswaraj and Audit Online portal.  The grant is released only to those local bodies which are duly elected.

In addition, to be eligible to receive tied grant, Rural Local bodies shall upload development plans on eGramSwaraj containing details of Annual Action Plan for Sanitation and Drinking Water Supply.  Annual Action Plan for Drinking Water Supply shall include details about Supply of drinking water, rain water harvesting and water recycling.  Annual Action Plan for Sanitation shall include the status & maintenance of ODF and planning and implementation of SLWM interventions in the local body.  Local bodies must also upload the details of utilization 15^th F.C. funds [both components] on the website.

The States are required to transfer the grants to the local bodies 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. 

State-wise amount of Rural Local Bodies Grants released so far in 2021-22 is given below;

State-wise amount of Rural Local Bodies Grants released in 2021-22

S. No.	Name of the State	Total amount released during 2021-22  [upto 09-03-2022] Rs. in crore.
1	Andhra Pradesh	969.50
2	Arunachal Pradesh	142.75
3	Assam	593.00
4	Bihar	3709.00
5	Chhattisgarh	752.50
6	Goa	48.50
7	Gujarat	1181.00
8	Haryana	467.50
9	Himachal Pradesh	158.50
10	Jharkhand	624.50
11	Karnataka	1662.40
12	Kerala	842.10
13	Madhya Pradesh	1472.00
14	Maharashtra	2153.50
15	Manipur	65.50
16	Meghalaya	91.00
17	Mizoram	34.50
18	Nagaland	80.90
19	Orissa	1168.30
20	Punjab	860.00
21	Rajasthan	2963.30
22	Sikkim	21.70
23	Tamil Nadu	3316.43
24	Telangana	682.50
25	Tripura	98.70
26	Uttar Pradesh	5045.60
27	Uttarakhand	294.98
28	West Bengal	2265.11
Total		31765.2715

 

Local body grant eligibility: transparency, uploaded accounts and action plans required before central funds are disbursed to rural governments. The Department of Expenditure released a tranche of grant-in-aid to Rural Local Bodies as part of 2021-22 allocations, structured with 60 percent as tied grants for drinking water and sanitation and 40 percent as untied grants for local discretion. Eligibility requires publication of provisional and audited accounts by at least 25 percent of local bodies, upload to eGramSwaraj and Audit Online, and that recipients be duly elected; tied grants additionally require uploaded Annual Action Plans for sanitation and drinking water and reporting of fund utilization. States must transfer funds to local bodies within ten working days or pay interest on delayed transfers.