Centre Disburses Rs 223 Crore to Assam's Rural Local Bodies

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Centre has released an amount of over Rs 223 crore, comprising the 2nd instalment of Untied Grants and the withheld portion of the 1st instalment of FY 2024-25 for Rural Local Bodies in Assam.

The Union Government has released Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants during Financial Year 2025-26 for Rural Local Bodies in Assam. This entails the 2nd instalment of Untied Grants of the Financial Year 2024-25 amounting to Rs.219.24 crore. These funds are for all 27 eligible District Panchayats (DPs), all 182 eligible Block Panchayats (BPs) and all 2,192 eligible Gaon Panchayats (GPs) of the state. Further, Rs.4.69 crores of the withheld portion of the 1st instalment of the Untied Grant for Financial Year 2024-25 has also been released to an additional 26 eligible Block Panchayats.

The Government of India's Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation) recommend the release of XV-FC Grants to states for Panchayati Raj Institutions/Rural Local Bodies, which are then released by the Ministry of Finance. The allocated grants are recommended and released in two instalments in a financial year.

The Untied Grants will be utilized by Panchayati Raj Institutions/Rural Local Bodies for location-specific felt needs, under the 29 subjects enshrined in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, except for salaries and other establishment costs. The Tied Grants can be used for the basic services of (a) sanitation and maintenance of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, and this should include management and treatment of household waste and human excreta and faecal sludge management in particular, and (b) supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling.

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